Silenced by the Night
by FlameInMyHeart
Summary: Set around season 6. Mulder profiles a mysterious serial killer in New York, and is assigned to work with another female agent. Scully joins the investigation but finds herself in mortal danger. Case File Fic/ UST
1. Chapter 1

**Silenced by the Night**

 **Spoilers:** Anything and everything up to season 6. This story takes place at the beginning of that season somewhere between Drive and Dreamland.

 **Disclaimer:** The characters of Fox Mulder, Dana Scully and A.D Kersh don't belong to me; I'm just borrowing them for a while.

 **Chapter 1**

Macey Egbert untied her dressing gown and let the garment fall to her feet as she swiped a hand across her damp forehead. It was a warm and sticky night in downtown New York, and it felt like the inside of her apartment was well over 100 degrees, although it probably wasn't. The ancient air conditioning system for her building was still fighting the good fight... even though it chugged and spluttered along, sounding much like a cement mixer full of ball bearings.

She picked up her dressing gown and threw it across a small wicker chair that was sitting in the corner of her bedroom, and then crossed over to the small window at the side of her bed. Reaching out for the handle, she pulled the window shut hearing the little click as it locked the window tight. Soon she was in bed but as the air was so humid, she was dressed only in her underwear with no sheets or duvet to cover her. The last thing she heard was the familiar whirring of air conditioning as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Somewhere in the apartment, a loud bang awoke Macey with a start. She snapped open her eyes, and found herself staring fixedly at the ceiling as she listened for another sound. Her breath came in short gasps as she fought to control the feeling of panic rising from her gut. "It was only a dream..." she told herself silently, but somehow she knew that it wasn't. She turned her head to the right and her eyes suddenly focussed on the dark corner at the far side of the room. It was pitch black in the bedroom, but it seemed like all the shadows came to rest at this point.

Someone was there, watching her. Every instinct in her body told her to flee, to get up and run from the room as fast as her legs could carry her, but she couldn't move a muscle no matter how hard she tried. The dark shadows began to move and take shape, as the silhouette of a man appeared from the gloom. He was carrying a hammer in his hand as he silently began to walk towards the bed.

Her mind was reeling, still trying in vain to get up, even though there was no restraints to hold her down. She couldn't see anything, not even his face. However, it was at this point when she realised to her horror that he didn't have a face at all. The shadow man lifted the hammer above his head and Macey Egbert closed her eyes for the last time.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Fox Mulder put down the telephone receiver and he sighed audibly, causing a few heads to turn his direction. At this point he felt like he was past caring, and it was only eight thirty in the morning. He clicked onto his computer and quickly typed a note onto the record of a Mr Gerald Gumble, who had recently purchased four tons of manure for his farm. Please note; the manure in question was _not_ purchased for any other reason but to feed his prize winning pumpkins which (as explained at length by Mr Gumble) are the biggest in Clearfield County, Hick town USA. He sighed again, and deleted this last paragraph.

Sitting back in his chair, he was just about to pick up the phone again when he noticed his partner walk into the room. She was wearing her cream coloured trench coat, which appeared to be wet from the rain and was carrying her briefcase. Her hair, which was normally immaculate, looked a little wind swept. She breezed up to her desk, which was the one behind his and threw down her briefcase.

"Hey there Agent Scully, ready for another fun filled day at the office?"

"Always Mulder. Although I could have done without having to drive to work this morning. My car wouldn't start, and when I finally managed to get it going I ended up stuck in the middle of the rush hour traffic".

"Bummer," he replied while simultaneously chewing on his pen. Scully gave him a tired smile, and as he spun round to face his screen again, she sat down in her chair and started going through her emails.

Just then, the phone on Mulders desk rang and as he went to pick it up, he noticed the number on the caller I.D and recognised it to be the extension of A.D Kersh's secretary. "Oh great, what now" he said aloud, catching the attention of Scully who looked across at him as he picked up the phone.

"Mulder"

"Good Morning Agent Mulder, A.D Kersh has requested a meeting with you in his office as soon as possible please." It was Janice, Kersh's snippy secretary.

"Could this day get any better?" he thought to himself with a frown. "Should I inform Agent Scully?"

"No that won't be necessary; A.D Kersh has requested that you attend the meeting alone".

"OK Thank you, "He replaced the telephone receiver and turned to look at Scully, who was staring at him with an expectant look on her face.

"Was that Kersh?" She asked

"Uh oh... I think I'm in Twubble!" answered Mulder and picked up his suit jacket from the back of his chair.

She smiled, and picked up her pen "Mulder, what have you done?"

"For once I have no idea. It's just me though, so I guess you're in the clear". He turned and picked up a pile of papers sitting in his in-tray. "Here's this morning's list of manure buyers to background check. I've called the first five so I'll leave it in your capable hands". He slammed the pile onto her desk and began to walk towards the door.

Mulder knocked on the door of A.D Kersh's office and entered when he heard a quiet "come in" from the Assistant Director. He walked into the room expecting him to be alone, but instead found a young woman sitting on one of the chairs at Kershs desk.

"Agent Mulder, please take a seat" said Kersh as he gestured to the empty seat next to the woman.

As he sat down Kersh spoke up again "I would like you to meet Special Agent River Carroway from our New York field office, she works in the violent crimes division."

Mulder turned towards her, as she held out her hand. "Nice to meet you Agent Mulder" she said with a velvety soft southern accent. As he took her hand, he got his first proper look at her, and it struck him straight away that she was completely stunning.

She was in her early to mid-thirties, fresh faced with dark shoulder length hair. With a perfect nose and full lips, he thought she wouldn't look out of place on the cover of a men's magazine. Especially the kind of magazines that he was quite fond of reading.

"Nice to meet you too Agent Carroway." He answered back with a smile. Kersh suddenly coughed which made both agents turn to look at him in surprise.

"Enough with the pleasantries Agents, there's no time for that. I asked you up here for a reason Agent Mulder."

"Yes sir"

"Unfortunately there's been a series of murders, the most recent one taking place only 2 days ago in the borough of Queens, New York. It appears there may be a serial killer on the loose, but I'll let Agent Carroway fill you in with the details."

"Excuse me sir" Interjected Mulder "but why are you telling me this? I work for the counter terrorism department now I don't hunt serial killers anymore." He wanted to add, "You saw to that" but thought better of it at this point.

"I realise that Agent Mulder…but while it pains me to say it, I'm also aware that you possess an uncanny ability to catch a killer by getting into their minds, thinking what they think yada yada yada. What I'm saying is Agent Mulder; we need you to profile this serial killer."

"And quickly" piped up Carroway. Mulder turned to look at her as she pulled out a file from her briefcase. She scanned through the pages and then pulled out a photograph, which he assumed was from one of the crime scenes.

"This girl is... _was_ Macey Egbert, a twenty one year old waitress from Rapid City, South Dakota. The buildings caretaker found her dead in her apartment two days ago. She had been bludgeoned to death by a blunt instrument, most probably a hammer." She passed the photograph to Mulder who studied it for a second before handing it back.

"No offence to you Agent Carroway, I get that this is a horrific case and the killer does need to be caught…but there must be a dozen Agents who could profile this person just as well as I could. I don't get why I've been brought into it?"

"Because Agent Mulder, there are some other details that we haven't mentioned so far" said Kersh as he gestured for Carroway to continue. She then passed Mulder another photograph, this time showing the body of an old man who looked to be in his 80's, lying on a bed with his throat cut open. The man was covered in blood but his staring blue eyes were wide, his entire face frozen in a lasting moment of what appeared to be complete terror.

"This is the first victim," said Carroway "His name is Albert Fineman, and he was eighty four at the time of his death. His body was found by his daughter." She took back the photograph and handed the full album of photographs to Mulder, who began to flick through them quickly.

"There have been two other victims also. A woman in her fifties who was stabbed to death, and a teenage boy who was strangled. Maybe it was the same killer maybe it wasn't, but each victim was home alone when they were killed. In each case there was no apparent signs of entry, the windows and doors were all locked from the inside, and there has been no murder weapons found"

"What about forensics?" Mulder asked as he finally looked up from the file. "Any fingerprints or DNA recovered from the scene?"

"That's just it Agent Mulder" said Carroway. "There's nothing. Not at any of the crime scenes. Our teams have scoured those rooms from top to bottom, and there's not even a speck of dust out of place."

As she looked from Mulder and then back to Kersh she added, "It's like they were killed by a ghost."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Scully took another sip of her coffee, and glanced up at the clock on the office wall. Mulder had been in the meeting with Kersh for well over an hour, and she was beginning to get a little anxious. He wasn't usually gone this long. She was debating with herself whether to call Kersh's secretary, just as the door opened at the far side of the room.

She heard his laugh before she even saw him walk into the office, which struck her as odd. Mulder rarely laughed like that.

He walked in followed by a young woman who was also laughing, and seemingly hanging on his every word. She was tall, slim and beautiful. Scully hated her from the moment she clapped eyes on her.

She looked away quickly and pretended to look for something in her desk drawer, just as Mulder appeared at her side. She reluctantly dragged her eyes away from the box of staples she was intent on studying, as he said her name.

"Scully?"

"Mmm" she looked up at Mulder who was stood at the side of her chair, playing with his tie. He looked nervous.

"Scully, this is Specially Agent River Carroway from New York" She stood up, accepted the woman's outstretched hand, and shook it politely. "River? That's an unusual name"

"Yeah you know, my parents were hippies" Carroway smiled as she looked at Mulder "Were your parents hippies too Fox?"

"Err no, more like sadists I'd say," he laughed "but please call me Mulder."

"Okay Mulder it is" said Carroway as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Did she just bat her eyelashes at me?" He thought absently as he glanced over at Scully. She had her arms folded and the "I'm going to kill you" look in her eye. This was not going to go well.

He turned towards Carroway again and nodded towards the office door "Agent Carroway, why don't you wait outside while I grab a few things?"

"Sure Mulder, it was nice meeting you Agent Scully," she said brightly as she picked up her briefcase and began to leave. "You too" said Scully quietly, suddenly feeling a little sick. He was going to ditch her.

"Mulder, what's going on?"

"There's been a string of murders in New York, and they think it could be the work of a serial killer. Kersh has assigned me to the case to do some profiling, that's all. I might be back in a few days"

"Profiling?"

"Yeah, I think the Agents up there are having some trouble getting a handle on this this guy. Whoever the killer is, he's doing a good job at covering his tracks," he said as he began to turn off his computer

"Why is it just you?" she said sitting down at her desk again.

"I honestly don't know," said Mulder as he came and stood next to her, before reaching down to touch her shoulder lightly. "At least it gets me out of your hair for a while. That's got to be a bonus right?"

"Yeah" She smiled reluctantly. He _was_ ditching her.

"See you around partner" he touched his forehead in a mock salute and began to walk towards the door carrying his briefcase, and trench coat.

She continued to stare at the door for a while after he had left, mulling over what had just happened. Did she have any right to feel usurped by this Agent Carroway? If that was the right word?

No, the right word was jealous. She sighed and clicked back onto her emails thinking she may as well start another background check. It was going to be a long few days….

 **Authors Notes: To be continued soon (hopefully) unless you think it's crap!...Please leave reviews and let me know if I should carry on with the story. Thanks x**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was mid-afternoon by the time Mulder and Carroway arrived at the FBI field office in New York. After going through the case file, they travelled to the scene of the latest murder, which was the apartment of Macey Egbert, who lived in a quiet neighbourhood in Queens.

Mulder climbed out of the car and walked towards the main door of the building. He was looking up at the windows on the upper floors, when Carroway joined him.

"Macey lived on the second floor right?"

"Yes" she answered pointing to an alleyway at the side of the building. "Her apartment is at the back facing the dumpsters. There's limited access back there for any vehicles and there's no fire escape. I can't see how any perp could manage to get through the windows from there."

"Yeah I think you're right; there would certainly be easier ways to get in. Let's take a look inside". He followed Carroway up to the entrance as she typed in the security code to open the front doors.

They took the elevator up to the second floor, and as the doors opened, he could see Macey's apartment was at the end of the hall, with the door now covered by Police tape. Carroway stepped out of the elevator first, crossed the hallway and opened the apartment door, holding up the tape so Mulder could enter.

"Thanks" he said while snapping on a pair of rubber gloves he had stashed away in his pocket. He entered the living room first, which was small and felt a little claustrophobic. There was barely any space for the couch, which was up against the far wall, and the floor was littered with empty pizza boxes and tin cans.

"This reminds me of my apartment", said Mulder as he stepped over the debris to reach one of the windows, which was covered with a dusty looking sheet. He lifted it up and looked out into the yard at the back of the building.

"Do you live alone too?" asked Carroway as she came to stand beside him.

"Yeah, but it's not quite as bad as this. I know you shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but I don't think Miss Egbert was one for cleaning up much." he grimaced as he noticed a plate of mouldy pizza on the couch, which was being devoured by two large cockroaches.

"This is nothing, wait till you see the bedroom" said Carroway as she cleared a pathway through the trash and opened a door at the far side of the room. Mulder followed and as the door swung open, he was instantly met with a wall of stench. This was a heady mixture of rotting food, sweat and the unmistakable odour of death.

"Jesus, the smell in here doesn't get any better," Carroway muttered as she pinched the sides of her nose and made way for Mulder as he walked in behind her. He swatted a buzzing fly away from his face as he got his first proper look at the room where Macey had died.

Like the living room it was filled with more take out boxes and used dishes, but there was also clothes strewn all over the floor, and every surface was covered by various bottles, sprays and empty glasses. He then noticed the window, which was teaming with hundreds of flies. They were either buzzing round the glass trying to escape, or scattered dead all over the window ledge.

"How long was Macey in here till she was found?" Mulder asked as he walked over to the bed where Macey's body had been discovered.

"I think the coroner estimated that she'd been dead at least two days when they found her" answered Carroway "The owner of the restaurant where she worked, raised the alarm when she didn't turn up for her shift two days straight. He said it wasn't like her not to call if she wasn't going to be in to work for any reason".

Mulder said nothing as he slowly walked around the bed that had since been stripped of all its covers, so only the mattress remained. He noticed the stains left behind by the removal of the body, and the blood that was on the wall at the back of the bed.

"It was a brutal attack Mulder," said Carroway who crossed over to the window "According to the post mortem, she'd been hit with a hammer at least 40 times. Now that seems to indicate that the killer either wanted to make sure Macey was dead, or that he's prone to explosive rage"

He nodded in agreement "Rage that could be attributed to a crime of passion...a jealous lover perhaps" he added, "But from reading the report, it seems like she was a bit of a loner. Not really many close friends and no boyfriend. Most of her family still live out in South Dakota"

"Exactly" answered Carroway as she began to lift the handle on the window. It was locked and secure, just as it had been the since the night of the murder.

"That's another thing" said Mulder who came up beside her "The window was closed during a heat wave, it strikes me as a little odd that she wouldn't want some air circulating around here, especially at night."

"Well it's interesting that you should mention that" said Carroway as she opened her bag and took out a copy of the crime report.

She flicked it open onto a certain page, and then handed it over to Mulder. "See here, this is the statement of John Buckle, the building care taker who found Macey's body. He said that for as long as he'd known her, Macey always kept her windows and doors locked tight no matter what the weather. He said she'd got a fear of someone breaking in"

"I'd say most people have the same fear, it's quite natural especially when living alone," said Mulder who scanned over the statement and then handed it back to Carroway.

"Yes but in Macey's case, it was an intense fear. Almost like she had a phobia about it."

Mulder nodded, appeared to ponder this over for a while before walking out of the bedroom. Carroway followed him through the apartment as he checked all the windows, finding each one still locked from the inside, with no sign of forced entry.

"Well I definitely don't see any signs of a break in," said Mulder as he ran his fingers over the locks on the front door.

"There is the possibility that the killer could have gained access by posing as a pizza delivery guy for example".

"Yes but there was no evidence to suggest there was a struggle" said Carroway who joined him at the door. "He would have had to overpower her to get through this door, but there was no marks on Macey to imply she fought back. And no fingerprints or blood in this area. It just doesn't add up".

Mulder nodded before opening the door. "Perhaps we should go back to the office and see if we can link the victims in some way. Maybe they knew each other."

"Maybe" said Carroway as she fished the apartment key out of her bag. "Hey, it's been a long day, why don't we skip the office and I'll treat you to dinner. I know this great little diner not far from here."

"Sounds great to me," answered Mulder with a smile as they left the apartment. "Anything but pizza".


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Mulder wiped the last of the barbeque sauce from around his mouth, and threw down the napkin with a satisfied groan. "That has gone to be one of the best plates of ribs I have had in a _very_ long time."

Carroway nodded enthusiastically, as she licked the sauce from her fingertips "Mmm definitely, I told you this diner was awesome".

"Do you come here often?" said Mulder he picked up the menu to check out the desserts.

"Well I did before my partner retired from the Bureau; we used to come here nearly every week. Now I'm flying solo I don't get up here as often" replied Carroway, who paused for a second before picking up her coffee cup, mirroring the actions of Mulder who having decided even he couldn't find room for a dessert, had replaced the menu back onto the table and was now sitting with his coffee cup cradled between both hands.

"So have you and Agent Scully been working together long?" she enquired.

"Yeah, about six years now. It feels a little weird to be working on a case without her actually"

"Really?" asked Carroway who put down her cup and began twirling her long dark hair between her fingers. "You guys must be pretty close then, I mean after working together for six years"

"I'd say so, we've been through a lot together" agreed Mulder, who was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. He didn't feel like answering questions about his relationship with Scully, especially not to Carroway, who was practically a stranger. Here it comes…he thought to himself

"So you two have never…you know…hooked up or anything? I mean, Agent Scully is an attractive woman and you're obviously very attractive yourself."

There it is, he thought. _The_ million-dollar question...Why does everyone have to be so predictable?

"Thank you, and yes Scully is beautiful but the answer is no, we've never hooked up or anything" he replied wiping his mouth for a second time on the used napkin before holding his hand up to catch the attention of the waitress currently passing by with a tray of empty plates.

"Excuse me ma'am, could we have the bill please?"

"Coming right up," she answered with a cheery smile. Mulder reached behind the chair to grab his trench coat and was just about to stand, when Carroway leant across the table to put a hand on his forearm.

"I'm sorry Mulder" she said quietly "I didn't mean to pry, I was just curious that's all"

"It's fine really," he said as he stood up and slipped on his jacket. "I just get asked that question a lot. We're just friends and that's the end of it."

"Great" said Carroway as she stood up from the table and grabbed her bag that was on the next seat. Mulder looked at her with a quizzical expression, which prompted her to add; "I mean, it's great that's all cleared up. I don't want us to fall out Mulder". She smiled putting some money down onto the table where the waitress had left their bill.

"Dinners on me by the way" she added much to Mulders protest "The next ones on you."

Mulder got out of the cab and realised he had just stepped into a giant puddle, as cold muddy water flooded into his shoe. "Great" he said wiggling his foot in a weak attempt to shake the water off. It was another warm night, but it was now raining so hard and fast that it was bouncing off the pavements.

He turned back to the cab and leaned through the open door. "Thanks for the dinner Carroway. I'll see you back in the office tomorrow morning".

"Bright and early" she said with a beaming smile "But please call me River when we're off duty. No need to be so formal."

"Alright" he said a little awkwardly. He was so used to calling people by their surnames; he had to admit that it felt a little weird. "Goodnight"

"Night Mulder", Carroway answered and did a little wave as he shut the cab door. He didn't wait to see the car drive away, as he ran into the lobby of his hotel; a rundown little place on the upper west side of town.

After a quick wash and change into a white t-shirt and some old grey jogging pants, he looked at his watch and wondered whether Scully would still be up. "It's only nine thirty," he thought as he picked up his cell phone and hit speed dial "I call her at five in the morning most days, she's used to it". After a couple of rings, she picked up.

"Scully"

"Hey Scully it's me"

"Hi" she answered back, as Mulder then threw himself onto the bed, emitting an "Oouuff" sound as he landed heavily on his front. He hadn't realised the bed was _that_ hard.

After a slight pause, Scully asked; "What are you doing Mulder?"

"Nothing, I'm just getting comfortable."

"Okaay" she answered. "How's the case going?"

"Well we visited the latest crime scene today but I didn't really get anything from it. It's early days though," he said, with the last part of the sentence muffled by crunching, as he shoved a handful of sunflower seeds in his mouth. Scully smiled to herself as she heard this familiar sound, which had become somewhat comforting to her over the years. If Mulder had some seeds, then all is right with the world.

"So how are you getting on with Agent Carroway?"

"Fine. She seems easy to get along with so far. She even treated me to dinner so I must be doing something right."

"Oh, really?" Scully answered, a little taken aback. This was _not_ what she wanted to hear.

"Yeah I'm lulling her into a false sense of security before I go all _cray_ _cray_ on her ass," he said in his best imitation of a broad New York accent.

"Cray Cray? What the hell Mulder?" she exclaimed before starting to laugh, which instantly made Mulder smile from ear to ear. She had a wonderful laugh, and it always warmed his heart to hear it.

"Oh you know one of my theories that at first seems a touch outlandish, you might even say a little crazy… but then low and behold, I was right all along!"

"Yeah, you wish" she chuckled even though she knew that actually, he probably _was_ right most of the time. She just didn't want to admit it. "Keep me posted OK," she added.

"I will" he replied before hearing the line go dead as she hung up the phone. He rolled over to place his cell on the bedside cabinet before switching on the TV. He could still hear the rain hammering at the windows, as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

He was awoken sometime during the night by a shrill ringing sound in his ears, realising quickly that it was his cell phone by the bed. He switched on the lamp, and squinted at the alarm clock, which showed the time as being 4.30am. He blinked again trying to clear the sleep from his eyes and picked up the phone. "Mulder"

"Mulder its Carroway. Listen I hate to drag you from your bed at this time of the morning, but I'm afraid there's been another murder."

"Where are you?" he said as he sat up in bed rubbing his eyes.

"I'm at the crime scene, its 189 Lafayette Street in Soho. We need you here ASAP; we think it may be the same killer"

To be continued…

 **Authors Notes**

Reviews Please! …And thank you to those who took the time to review my first couple of chapters; it was very encouraging to read your nice comments. x


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

As Mulder turned the corner of Lafayette Street, he saw the flashing blue and red lights on top of the emergency vehicles all parked outside one of the high-rise condominiums on the block. He pulled up his rented Ford Taurus behind one of the patrol cars and as he walked toward the building, he flashed his I.D at the young Police Officer that was standing guard outside the main entrance.

"FBI. Which floor is it?"

After studying Mulders badge intently he answered; "The penthouse, all the way up to the 23rd floor" He then stepped aside so that Mulder could stride under the police tape used to cordon off the entrance.

After riding the elevator to the top floor, he exited at the penthouse suite. After introducing himself to the two patrol officers at the door, he entered the apartment and began looking for Carroway. As he walked through the open plan living room, he noticed her standing at the entrance of what he presumed to be the bedroom, with two men who looked like police detectives.

He called her name as he walked towards the group, at which point she turned and smiled. "Detectives, this is Special Agent Fox Mulder. He's come over from D.C to help us catch this guy".

"Hi" said Mulder as he came to stand at the side of Carroway. "Are you guys from NYPD?"

"That's right, for our sins," said one of the officers with a smirk. With his unkempt grey hair, and weather beaten complexion, he looked older than the other one by at least ten years. He reminded Mulder of Lieutenant Columbo minus the grubby raincoat and cigar.

"I'm Detective Don Taylor and this is my partner Detective Ed Murray, from Homicide".

Mulder acknowledged them both with a nod and then turned to look into the bedroom.

"What have we got?" he asked solemnly.

"Why don't you take a look?" said Carroway, stepping to the side so Mulder could pass through the doorway.

"I'll warn you, it's not a pretty sight," added Detective Taylor with a grimace. Mulder looked back at the Detective who appeared somewhat hesitant to enter the room with him. "Is it that bad?" he asked, surprised that a hardened New York City cop would be at all fazed by anything these days.

"You could say that," said Taylor who was exchanging knowing looks with his partner Murray.

Mulder turned back and fished his rubber gloves from his pocket. The room was in semi darkness as the only light was coming from a small table lamp in the corner of the room. He turned to look for the light switch, when Murray leaned in through the doorway and pointed to the shade on the ceiling "The light bulbs blown, it must have tripped a switch or something".

Mulder nodded in acknowledgement and began to walk towards the large king size bed in the centre of the room. He noticed the mess of tangled sheets piled up at the foot of the bed and as he stepped closer, the shape of a person lying underneath the duvet became apparent. The crime scene photographers must not have arrived yet, as he knew the body should have been uncovered to document the state of the body upon its discovery.

He reached across to grab the edge of the duvet and slowly began to peel it to one side, being careful not to disturb the scene too much.

The first thing he became aware of was the smell of blood. The sheet must have disguised it somehow because as soon as he pulled it back, he became overwhelmed by its thick metallic odour, which was so strong he could almost taste it. As he stepped back in disgust, it was at this point that the entire gruesome scene unfolded like a nightmare before his eyes.

There were two heads on the pillow. One attached to a white male, who looked to be in his mid- thirties. His face contorted into an expression of what Mulder could only describe as complete and utter terror. His eyes were bulging, and his mouth open wide as if locked in a silent scream. His hands were both pulled up towards his face, the fingers twisted at odd angles and frozen by rigour mortis.

The other head however, belonged to a Hispanic male who was older, possibly in his late fifties. This head was severed, and had been placed on the pillow with his face turned up towards the ceiling. The blood had pooled around the base of the head, and Mulder noticed how streams of it ran from his eyes as if he was crying blood red tears.

"Jesus" he said under his breath, placing a hand over his mouth as he felt his stomach lurch. He'd seen some shocking sights in his time, but this had to be up there with the worst of them.

He felt a hand on his elbow, and was surprised to see Carroway standing at the side of him. He hadn't even noticed her enter the room.

"Pretty grim huh?" she said. "That's one word for it," agreed Mulder as he took a step back, in an unconscious effort to distance himself from the horror of it all, but he then quickly switched back into profiler mode before anyone would even notice the difference.

He looked back towards the two Detectives standing at the doorway. "Do you know the identity of the victims?"

Detective Taylor nodded and produced a small notebook from his coat pocket. "Well one of them at least. The body belongs to Christian Swift, a 34-year-old lawyer, who works for one of the big firms in the city. Pretty high-flyer by all accounts. This is his apartment."

"What about the head?" asked Mulder "I'm guessing he's a John Doe at the moment?"

"Or Juan Doe" interjected Murray, shoving Taylor on the arm and snickering. Taylor just looked at the younger man sideways and with mild disdain. "Yeah you're funny. Cut the crap wise guy."

Mulder almost laughed at the comical "wounded puppy" expression that instantly crossed Murrays face, but instead he turned back to Taylor. "Who discovered the bodies?"

"It was the victim's girlfriend…" he paused to look back through his notebook "A Miss Claire Ambrose. She'd been on a night out with friends, came back to Swifts apartment and found him here in bed. Needless to say, when the paramedics arrived they had to sedate her".

"I'm not surprised," added Carroway looking back at the bed. "Is there any chance we might get to talk to her?"

"You could try," said Taylor "They took her to the Lower Manhattan Hospital, to treat her for shock."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Later that morning Mulder and Carroway arrived at the Hospital and made their way to the E.R department. They were directed to a side room, just off the main corridor.

Mulder knocked on the door, and waiting for a sign that they could enter the room. When he heard a quiet "come in" from a female voice inside, he opened the door just wide enough so that he could put his head through and announce who they were. When he looked into the room, the first thing he noticed was a young woman with long blonde hair sitting on the edge of the bed. She had a soft blue blanket wrapped around her like a cocoon; her pretty face was puffy and red with her eyes swollen from crying. An older woman was also sitting on the bed, and appeared to be comforting her.

"Miss Claire Ambrose?"

"Yes" she replied in a soft voice. "I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder from the FBI. I'm with Special Agent River Carroway from the New York Field office. We'd like to ask you a few questions about what happened tonight, if this is a good time?"

"Of course this is not a good time" snapped the other woman as she stood from the bed. "Don't you think my daughter has been through enough already, without being bombarded by questions from the FBI? I suggest you leave immediately."

"Mom" said Claire as she leant forward to place a hand on her mother's arm. "It's Okay; I can answer a few questions. I'll have to sooner or later anyway."

"Sweetheart, I really don't think you're ready for this," she said rubbing a soothing hand over her daughters back.

"Look, its fine Mom really. Just go and get a coffee or something." She answered, appearing to hug the blanket a little tighter around herself. Her mother took once last look, and reluctantly left the room leaving Mulder and Carroway standing a little awkwardly at the end of the bed.

"Sorry about that, she's just being over protective" said Claire.

"Don't worry, that's perfectly understandable" Carroway answered, as she pulled up a chair at the side of the bed, followed by Mulder who did the same.

"Claire, I appreciate you've gone through a terrible ordeal." said Carroway. "And we know you've already given some information to the Police."

"Yes about how I found him…Like that." Claire said sadly, looking at Mulder who simply nodded and gave her a small smile of encouragement. "We wanted to know some things about Christian. What kind of people he hung out with, if he was in any kind of trouble?" asked Carroway.

"Trouble? No Christian isn't like that" Claire answered emphatically. "He only ever socialised with the people he works with, and friends he's known for years. That's how we met actually, through mutual friends."

"Have you been together long?" asked Mulder

"Three years." She answered quietly, with fresh tears begging to glisten in her eyes. "My friend April Brookes is a partner of the law firm where Christian works...Hunter, Brookes and Gamble. She introduced us one night at a party, and we've been inseparable since".

"But you don't live together, right?" asked Mulder, recalling the information the NYPD detectives had given them before travelling to the Hospital.

"Yeah that's right;" she said with a slight smile, reaching up to brush away a stray tear that had fallen onto her cheek. "I stayed over at his place a lot, mainly at the weekends but Christian had problems sleeping…I used to get disturbed a lot you know, woken up in the early hours of the morning when I had work. So it turned out better for me to keep my own apartment."

"When you say sleep problems, what do you mean exactly?" enquired Mulder.

"Well he suffered really badly with nightmares. Or night terrors as he would call them"

"Night _terrors_?" said Carroway looking from Claire to Mulder. "Aren't they something that only children suffer with? Monsters in the closet, that kind of thing?"

"Well not necessarily" answered Mulder. "Children do suffer with them yes, but there is a small percentage of adults who still experience them on a nightly basis. They differ from nightmares in that the person may scream in their sleep, move around the room and often hallucinate."

"Yes that's right," agreed Claire. "Christian would suddenly jump out of bed screaming and shouting about a man being in the room, or sometimes he'd say that someone was trying to break in. He did it almost every night and he would scared me half to death most of the time. That's why I only stayed at weekends."

"Did Christian ever seek treatment from his Doctor for this?" asked Carroway

"No, he was too embarrassed," replied Claire with a small smile. "I think he thought people would think he was crazy or something." She looked up at Mulder who nodded sympathetically; he knew _that_ feeling all too well.

"He did go online a lot…chat rooms used by other sufferers of nightmares, night terrors that kind of thing. I think it helped him to chat with other people who experienced the same things as he did. There was this one chat room especially, he was always on there."

"Can you remember the name of it?" asked Mulder

"Umm, I think the website was called Night Chatter something like that" Claire answered sounding a little weary. Mulder stood up from his chair and moved over to Claire, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you very much Miss Ambrose you've been very helpful."

As they were about to leave the room, Claire called over to them "You know I can't think why anyone would ever want to hurt Christian. He is…. _was_ the kindest, sweetest guy I have ever met." She wiped a hand over her face as more tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. "Please get the bastard who did this to him."

"We'll do everything we possibly can, Claire" Mulder replied with earnest as he quietly closed the door to her room.

Mulder walked down to where Carroway was standing down the hall. "What was that all about Mulder?" she asked as he came to stand beside her. "What?" he replied as he absently smoothed down the blue tie he was wearing and looked down at his shoes. "Here it comes," he thought to himself. Justifying his sudden leaps of logic to his disbelieving female partner. This situation didn't feel familiar at all….

"Quizzing her about Christian Swift's nightmares? What has that got to do with his murder?"

"Just a hunch" he replied as he began to walk toward the exit of the E.R. "Where are you going Mulder?" Carroway called after him. "I'm going to do some research. I'll see you at the office." He didn't turn back as he walked out of the E.R.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Scully looked up at the clock on the wall of the office, and rubbed at a sore spot at the base of her neck. She had been tapping away at her computer keyboard, busy conducting background checks since she arrived at the office roughly six hours earlier. Her aching neck and tired eyes told her that she was ready for a break. She was just about to shut off her computer ready to go to lunch, when she heard the shrill ringing of her cell phone which was on the inside pocket of her suit jacket.

"Scully" she answered.

"Scully it's me" replied Mulder whose voice was muffled by the sound of loud traffic noise in the background.

"Mulder, where are you? I can barely hear you" she spoke loudly. A little too loudly for some of the other Agents in the office, who turned their heads sharply in her direction. She smiled thinly in apology, and walked out of the office into the quiet corridor outside.

"ant…eee…ur" was all she heard in response.

"WHAT?" she cried "MULDER I CAN'T!…"

"Hear me" came a clear voice from the other end of the line followed by a chuckle.

"Oh. Sorry I couldn't hear you for the traffic."

Mulder had taken refugee away from the busy streets of Queens, inside a small coffee shop situated around the corner from the apartment of Macey Egbert. He was seated at a booth beside the window and as he looked up, he noticed a waiter heading over with a menu.

"It's OK. Scully I need you to do me a check on something if you have the time?"

"Sure, what is it that you need?"

"I'll have a large black coffee and a glazed donut please"

"Huh?" she replied, confused.

"Sorry, not you the waiter. I'm in a coffee shop…" He continued without pausing "this might be a long shot, but I need you to find some information about a website called Night Chatter."

"Night Chatter...What kind of website it that?"

"Well I'm hoping they'll be a link to a chat room on there about nightmares, night terrors that kind of thing."

"What does that have to do with your murder case?"

"To cut a long story short, I remembered reading something in the case file of the fourth victim, Macey Egbert that there were no witnesses to the murder. Even her neighbour, who lives in close proximity to her in the apartment block heard absolutely nothing that night. You might not think this was unusual at first glance, but her neighbour did mention that even if he did hear screams coming from her apartment, he wouldn't have acted upon it, as Macey was a known sufferer of night terrors."

"Go on" replied Scully, intrigued to know where his train of thought was leading.

"Well I've just spoken to Mr Jackson, the neighbour who provided the statement. He said that Macey suffered with severe night terrors. So severe that they could hear her screaming at night, and the noise would sometimes keep them awake."

"Jeez" said Scully in sympathy. She never suffered with anything like that; once she was asleep…she was dead to the world.

"Anyway, the latest victim Christian Swift also suffered from night terrors. He was found dead in his bed this morning, along with the severed head of an unknown male. It just seems too much of a coincidence that two of the victims suffered with sleep disorders."

"Okay, what do you want me to lookout for on this website?" said Scully

"I know for sure Christian Swift used this chat room, I need to know if the other victims went on there too. If I can find a link to the victims, it might be the key to catching the killer."

"Alright I'll be in touch," said Scully as she disconnected the line. She walked back to her desk, sat down and stared at her computer. She had no idea where to begin looking, but it sure beat the hell out of background checking.

She suddenly had an idea…reaching again for her cell phone she punched in the familiar number, and after a few rings someone answered.

"Frohike, it's Scully. I need you to do me a favour…"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

It was late in the evening by the time Mulder had made it back to the FBI field office. Having parked his rental car in the underground parking garage, he was standing in the lobby waiting to take the elevator up to the Violent Crimes unit, when he heard someone calling his name. He turned to see Carroway walking towards him carrying her jacket and briefcase.

"Hey Mulder, I've been waiting for you all afternoon. Where've you been?"

"Sorry, I had a few leads to check out" he apologized as he watched Carroway slip on the grey suit jacket she had been carrying under her arm. "Are you going home now?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think so; it's been a long day"

"Definitely" he agreed. "I'll run these things past you in the morning," he said as he held up the case file for the Christian Swift murder.

"Well, it's not _that_ late." She said looking at her slim, and no doubt expensive gold wristwatch. "Why don't you come over to my place? I'll make us some dinner, and we can go over the case."

"I don't know…I don't want you to go to any trouble on my…." He answered, being cut off mid-sentence as she grabbed his arm, linking it with her own. "Nonsense, Mulder. I can't have you going back to that crap shack hotel, without any food inside you." He was just about to protest again, when she began to pull him towards the entrance to the parking garage.

"Come on. You can drive, and I'll direct you to my place."

With his free hand, he fumbled in his trouser pocket in an attempt to find his car keys. He couldn't help but think that this wasn't a going to be such a good idea…

Carroway's apartment was located on a quiet, tree-lined street in the West Village. The neighbourhood was full of quaint brownstone houses, with swing sets in the yard and expensive cars parked in the driveway. Carroway's own apartment was halfway along the row of brownstones, with a small set of stones steps leading up to an Art Deco style door, which was painted a calming shade of powder blue.

Once inside, he noticed the interior was just as quaint with chintzy patterns, and cosy looking soft furnishings. While it was nice enough, this cottagey over-elaborate style didn't seem to match somehow with her modern edge and city girl attitude. He took a seat on the sofa, and began to flip through a copy of Cosmopolitan as he waited for Carroway, who had gone off into the kitchen to prepare dinner. He was halfway through reading an article entitled "10 steps to a better orgasm" when Carroway entered carrying a bottle of red wine and two glasses. As she walked by, she cast a suspicious glance over at Mulder, who looked rather guilty as he attempted to push the magazine under a cushion.

As she placed the glasses down on the small table in front of him, he leant forward to place a hand over the glass as she was about to pour. "Not for me thanks, I'm driving remember."

"Aww come on, not even a small one?" she returned with her best persuasive smile. "No, thank you all the same." He replied, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

"Is it warm in here or what?" he mumbled.

"Yeah sorry, the air conditioning is broken" Carroway said as she poured a glass of wine for herself. "Why don't you take your suit jacket off, I'm sure you'll feel more comfortable".

Mulder didn't want to make himself _too_ at home, but the overwhelming heat in the apartment meant he had no choice. He reluctantly shrugged off his jacket and loosened the top button on his shirt, feeling slightly better. As Carroway left the room to go into the kitchen, Mulder caught a whiff of something she was cooking. "What are we having? It smells great," he shouted to her.

"Spaghetti bolognaise" she called back. "Why don't you come on through, it's just about ready."

When Mulder entered the kitchen, Carroway hurried over to the dining table and pulled out one of the black leather chairs. "Have a seat Mulder. Can I get you something else to drink?"

"Thanks" he replied edging towards the table, which he noticed was set out with two place settings, and a vase full of red roses in the middle surrounded by little tea light candles in glass jars, which flickered and glowed casting dancing shadows on the wall behind.

"I'll just have ice tea thanks…or water. Water would be good" he added, surprised to hear his voice had suddenly gone a few octaves higher all of a sudden.

"What's wrong Mulder?" Carroway said with a slight chuckle, suddenly appearing at his side holding a plate of steaming bolognaise. "You sound a little nervous"

"No, I'm not nervous" he coughed in an attempt to dislodge the frog in his throat "I'm just not used to any fancy cooking that's all"

"Fancy cooking?" she laughed, placing a tall glass of water next to Mulders plate, before sitting down at the table in the seat opposite to him. "It's only spaghetti. What you need is a woman in your life, Mulder. Home cooked meals instead of take- out pizza every night."

"How do you know I _don't_ have a woman in my life?" he asked, swirling a fork around the spaghetti, before shovelling it into his mouth.

"Well when you said that you live alone, I just presumed you were…unattached" Carroway replied.

"I suppose I am, technically," he answered taking a sip of ice water.

"What do you mean…technically?" she asked, putting down her fork to reach for her glass of wine.

As Mulder closed his eyes for a second, to think about his response he wasn't surprised to see the image of Scully's face suddenly appearing in his mind's eye as it so often did. She was smiling that special secret smile that was reserved for one of his lame jokes. She wanted to laugh, but was trying so hard not to. He loved that smile.

"Earth to Mulder"

He opened his eyes to see Carroway leaning across the table, staring at him with a puzzled frown on her face. "Sorry" he mumbled, reaching back down for his fork.

"You didn't answer my question."

Mulder took another bite of food, trying to conceal the sudden feelings of annoyance. What business of hers was it anyway?

"I suppose there's no _technically_ about it. I'm a single, unattached thirty-something man who has a closet full of porn because the most meaningful relationship he has going right now, is with the pizza delivery guy."

Carroway snorted out a laugh, and covered her mouth to stop food from spraying across the table. "Maybe that came out wrong." Mulder smiled.

Carroway just laughed and took a sip of wine. "I was right Mulder. You definitely need a woman!"

After they had finished dinner, Mulder went to pick up the file that he'd left on a small side table in the hallway, when he heard his cell phone ringing. Returning to the sofa, he fished the phone out of his jacket pocket and answered on the third ring.

"Mulder"

"Mulder it's me".

"Hey, how's it hanging G-woman?" he said sitting down on the sofa.

"I've been doing some research on that chat room like you asked. Or should I say the guys have."

"Uh-huh" he nodded, knowing that she meant the lone gunmen. Whenever they needed something off the net, those three nerds were always their first port of call. "What did they find?"

"Christian Swift was a regular visitor in the chat room under the username CuriousCee. He mainly used the forums about sleep disorders and nightmares. And you were right Mulder…"

"About what?" he asked sitting up.

"Macey Egbert, she also visited Night Chatter almost on a daily basis. Her user name was Sleepycat39. But get this, we also found that Heather Thomas and Billy Rose were also regular users."

"The third and fourth victims" said Mulder. "But what about Albert Fineman, the first victim? Is he mentioned anywhere?"

"No, that's the only sticking point," said Scully as she looked through the list of users that Frohike had given her. His name definitely wasn't one there.

"Maybe he didn't have a computer; the guy was in his 80's after all" she offered.

"Yeah maybe…" he answered before adding, "Scully I think you should get down here. I need your help on this."

"What? Mulder, I can't just drop everything and leave… What about Kersh?"

"What about Kersh?" Mulder said, picking up his suit jacket from the back of the sofa and began an attempt at putting it on while balancing the phone in his other hand.

"Are you kidding? The guy would be royally pissed" She could almost see the expression on the Assistant Directors face if he knew either of them had gone behind his back. It would not be a pretty sight. "And what about Special Agent Carroway?" she said, not bothering to conceal the scathing tone in her voice. "I think she'd have something to say about me suddenly turning up in New York. It is her case after all."

"Scully, _you_ are my partner, and if I say that I need you on this case then it's not up for discussion. I'll deal with the others later." He turned at that moment to see Carroway walking out of the kitchen, holding two dishes containing what appeared to be lemon meringue pie. He smiled and pointed to his cell to let her know he was talking on the phone, and when she nodded in acknowledgement, he stepped back out into the hall.

"Please Scully" he said in a lowered tone, "I could really use your expertise".

"Fine" she replied sounding mildly irritated. "But just remember if Kersh finds out about this, which no doubt he will…It's my ass on the line too."

"And what a lovely ass it is too" Mulder quipped, with a smile on his face.

"Mulder…" she warned.

He laughed to let her know he was joking. Well sort of joking…"Just get down here, Okay? I'm staying at the Imperial Hotel."

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can" she replied before ending the call. He placed his cell phone back in his coat pocket and walked back into the living room where Carroway was sitting, waiting for him on the sofa.

"Was that Agent Scully?" she asked as soon as he entered the room.

"Yeah it was" he sat down, and pointed to the pie which Carroway had placed on the table in front of the sofa "Is that for me?"

"Yes, if you want it" she said.

"Of course, it looks delicious" Mulder replied, picking up the dish and taking a big spoonful of the pie "This is good" he mumbled with his mouth full.

"Glad you like it" she answered curtly. Mulder looked over at her as he spooned the last of the pie into his mouth. She was sitting as far away from him as possible, and he noticed she'd put a cardigan over the low cut dress she was wearing, which he was sure earlier on was for his benefit. He began to wonder if her change in demeanour was due to his phone call with Scully.

"River, I'm sure you heard most of the conversation anyway, but I've asked Scully to come and join me on the investigation."

Carroway huffed and stood up quickly from the sofa "No I didn't hear that part, just the part with all the flirting"

"What?" he coughed, nearly choking on a bit of piecrust. "I asked her down here because she's a first rate investigator, and I'm sure her insight into this case would help us catch whoever's behind these murders".

"Her insight…right is that what you call it?" Carroway retorted angrily. "This is my case Agent Mulder. You have no right to bring other people onto this investigation without my say so."

"Carroway, Agent Scully is my partner," Mulder said, standing up from the sofa to face her "We have an excellent solve rate for these kind of cases, because we work so well together. She's also a trained forensic pathologist. I would have thought you'd jump at the chance of having her join us".

Carroway simply stood and stared at Mulder for a long while. Her arms crossed over her body in a defensive stance, and the anger still written all over her face.

"Okay, fine Mulder. Do whatever you want. I just thought that you and I were getting on well together that's all".

"We are River," he said gently, not wanting to aggravate the situation. "I think with all three of us on this case, we'll stand a better chance of catching this guy before he kills again". He picked up the file and looked at his watch. "It's late, I should get going." He leant forward to place a hand on Carroway's shoulder, "Thank you for dinner, it was very kind of you."

"You're welcome" she finally smiled "I'll see you tomorrow then"

"You will, bright and early" said Mulder as he turned towards the door, and held up the file "I'll let you bring Scully up to speed with the case when she gets here OK?"

"Yeah, no problem" she replied sounding somewhat resigned.

She watched as Mulder climbed into his car, and then waved as he set off down the street. After closing and locking the front door, she grabbed her glass of wine and threw herself onto the sofa, sinking in to its plump cushions. Taking a sip of the wine, she found herself lost in thought. While the case of course took precedence over anything else, she hadn't relied on the presence of Agent Scully being suddenly thrown into the equation.

Getting Mulder to notice her wouldn't be the problem, she was pretty sure she'd seen his eyes light up when she'd sat opposite him at the table, revealing the plunging neckline of her favourite little black dress. No, the problem would be getting Scully off this case, leaving her free to work her magic on Mulder.

Putting down the wine glass, she stood up from the sofa and walked over to admire her reflection in the large silver mirror hanging above her mantelpiece. Flicking back her long dark hair, and pursing her full lips, she smiled to herself "How could he possibly resist?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It was in the early hours of the morning when Scully finally arrived in New York, after catching the first flight she could out of D.C. She'd taken a cab from the airport and was just checking in to the hotel where Mulder was staying.

Once again, Mulder had chosen the crème de la crème of fleapits. The Imperial Hotel was in no way elegant or impressive as the name might suggest, unless you happened to be a hobo…and then it would seem practically palatial.

As she pushed open the door to her room on the third floor, the aroma of old cigarette smoke and body odour wafted around her face and it took all of her will power and restraint not to turn back and run away from the building as quick as her legs would carry her.

She flung her weekend bag onto the bed, dismayed to hear the loud clunking sound of broken springs as the bag hit the mattress. "Not even any magic fingers" she noticed with disappointment. Even those rundown little motels in the back of beyond that Mulder was so fond of had Magic Fingers, and she was not ashamed to say that she took full advantage of them whenever she could.

After putting her clothes away, and changing into her favourite navy blue silk pyjamas', she was just about to climb into bed when she heard her cell phone ringing. She grabbed the phone from the front pocket of her weekend bag, needing no caller I.D to know who was calling her at this ungodly hour.

"What do you want Mulder, it's three in the morning?"

"Well hello to you too Scully. I was just calling to check if you'd made your flight."

"Yeah I'm at the hotel now," she said while attempting to stifle a yawn "Nice choice by the way, I think as crappy hotels go, this has to be one of _the_ crappiest. You've really outdone yourself."

"Why thank you" he replied with a sarcastic smirk "I'll let you get your beauty sleep, and I'll catch up with you later, say around eight"

"Fine. I'm in room eleven."

"Ah, I thought I could hear your dulcet tones. I'm next door in twelve." He said, followed by three bangs on the wall.

"Mulder, could you be any louder?" she grimaced as the picture hanging above the bed rattled violently.

"The walls are pretty thin Scully; you better curb the snoring tonight. I do want some sleep you know".

"You could have fooled me; it is three in the morning… And I don't snore!" she shot back.

Mulder just chuckled softly as he was met by a tut of annoyance from Scully at the end of the line,

"Goodnight Mulder."

She ended the call, threw the phone onto the nightstand and climbed into bed. As she slipped under the covers, it crossed her mind that she may have been a little snippy with him, but as she attempted to get comfortable on the hard lumpy mattress, it occurred to her that he definitely deserved all that he got.

Scully had been in bed almost an hour when a sudden loud banging noise awoke her from sleep. She sat up in bed and looked around the room "It was probably someone slamming a door," she thought to herself, listening again for any noises as she laid her head back down onto the pillow.

"Or Mulder falling out of bed" she smiled and turned onto her side. Pulling the bed covers under her chin, she was just about to settle back down to sleep when she suddenly caught a glimpse of something moving out of the corner of her eye.

She slowly lifted her head from the pillow and stared into the darkness at the far end of the room. There was no more movement, no sounds just the shadows. But why did she suddenly feel so cold? Someone was there, hiding amongst those shadows…watching her. She could feel it with every inch of her being.

Bit by bit, she inched her hand out from under the covers and began to reach for the bedside drawer where she had stored her gun. Being careful not to make any noise, she very slowly opened the drawer and felt around for her weapon. It wasn't there.

Whoever had crept into her room, had also taken her gun while she had been sleeping. Her heart began to race with adrenalin as it so often did when faced with danger, while her mind was busy cataloguing as list of likely suspects as to the identity of her mystery intruder. It couldn't be the killer; no one even knew she was on this case, apart from Mulder and Carroway. It had to be a burglar. Some opportunistic thief, who had somehow managed to get past the security guard in the hotel lobby.

There it was again…something moved in the shadows, and she could hear something too. The sound of heavy breathing.

As fight or flight response suddenly kicked in, Scully grabbed the edge of the bedcovers and yanked them back while simultaneously swinging her legs out of bed. She didn't even have time to put one foot on the floor, when someone came rushing out of the shadows towards her. Her initial plan had been to run to the door, but now she found herself too scared to move, as an overwhelming feeling of terror suddenly seized her.

The silhouette of a man became visible. His large shadowed being loomed over her, as two hands suddenly plunged forward from the darkness and grabbed her throat with a vice like grip.

She was propelled backwards onto the bed and as her head hit the mattress, she tried to cry for help…but the only sound she could muster was a strangled gasp as the remaining air was forced from her lungs. Her hands flew up and grappled with the man's fingers in a weak attempt at pulling them away, but it was no use. His grip was too tight.

Tears began to cloud her vision as she stared up into the darkness where the man's face should have been. He was nothing but a solid shadow, large and black like a billowing thundercloud.

There was no air. She couldn't breathe. The man with no face was going to kill her….

To be continued...

Please Review..xx


	11. Chapter 11

Authors Notes

Thank you to the readers who have spared the time to review my fic, it is encouraging to read your feedback and thoughts so far. Apologies for taking so long between chapters…Anyhow, without further ado….I will carry on with the story! Hope you enjoy it xx

Chapter 11

Mulder looked at his watch and sighed. It was nearly four in the morning and he hadn't even had one wink of sleep. He'd just about given up on the television, which as well as being useless with hardly any channels, was also so old it looked like the one his mom had in the 1970's.

He got up from the bed, switched the TV off at the wall and threw the remote on top of the set. After climbing back under the sheets and turning off the bedside lamp, he rolled onto his back and stared at the dark ceiling for a while, listening to the steady hum of the traffic outside. He gradually felt his eyelids growing heavy, and was about to drift off to sleep when he suddenly heard a loud thumping sound coming from somewhere nearby.

He lifted his head from the pillow and strained his ears. The large mirror that was hanging on the wall next to the television suddenly rattled on its chain, and lifted away from the wall as another dull thudding noise echoed throughout the room.

"What the hell?" he thought as he clambered from the bed and walked over to the adjoining wall. He was sure the noises were coming from next door in Scully's room, and as he placed his ear against the dated flock wallpaper, he heard a sound that sent a shockwave down his spine. The sound of Scully calling his name…And she sounded terribly frightened.

He whirled around so quickly, he became briefly disoriented and stumbled over his shoes that he'd carelessly tossed at the end of the bed. As he gradually regained his bearings in the dark, he made his way back over to the bed and switched on the lamp, at the same time pulling open the drawer of the bedside cabinet to find his gun. Pulling it from the brown leather holster, he ran over to the door.

Once in the corridor, Mulder banged his fist loudly against the dark wood of Scully's bedroom door, the sound echoing down the darkened hall. "Scully!" he yelled anxiously "Are you alright?"

It was no use; security deposit or no security deposit, he had to break down the door. He was just aiming his foot for the first kick, when he heard a voice coming from inside.

"I'm Okay Mulder."

"Scully, what's going on?" he asked, leaning against the frame. He then heard the sound of her removing the security chain and the door swung open to reveal her small figure standing in the dark.

"I'm alright. There's no need to panic"

Mulder stepped into the room and reached up to flick the light switch. As the room was flooded in artificial light, he scanned his eyes quickly around the immediate area looking for any signs of disturbance. There was nothing, no furniture out of place or signs of a struggle. This calmed him somewhat, until he got his first look at her face. She was deathly pale, and even though she was doing her best to avoid his gaze, he could see the frightened look in her eyes.

"What happened?" he asked, quickly moving towards her, reaching out to touch her cheek tentatively. He felt her rest her face against his palm for a split second before taking a deliberate step away, avoiding his touch.

"It's nothing, I'm fine Mulder"

"Scully, you're obviously not fine," he said feeling a twinge of hurt at her dismissiveness. "I heard you calling out my name; I thought you were in trouble"

"I did?" she asked quietly, her eyes meeting his own for the first time. He nodded.

"This is going to sound stupid" she said wrapping her arms around herself self-consciously "but I had a nightmare. A really bad one".

"About what?"

"That's just it. I can't remember" she replied, turning to look at the bed with its mass of tangled sheets. "I think somebody was trying to hurt me, and I was trapped. I don't know really…..nothings clear in my mind. It's weird, I never have bad dreams"

"Well it may be time to lay off the cheese before bedtime Scully" Mulder said feeling relieved that it was nothing serious. He came to stand beside her, and placed his hand on her shoulder giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Maybe you're right;" she said, before turning to smile up at him, thinking of the pepperoni pizza with extra cheese, she'd devoured at the airport before catching her plane to New York.

Mulder returned the smile and held onto her gaze for a second, making sure she really was all right. "Listen, why don't you hit the hay and try to get some more sleep. I'll see you tomorrow"

"Okay. And thanks Mulder….for coming to my rescue, so to speak" she added feeling a little embarrassed now that the panic had subsided.

"Any time m' lady," he answered playfully, bowing at the waist.

Scully watched him return to his own room, and then waited for him to go inside before closing her door and locking it tight.

After climbing back under the covers, she turned off the light and attempted to get comfortable once more. She had to admit that she felt a little worried about going back to sleep, although she would never actually say that to Mulder.

That dream though….it seemed so real, so vivid she had never felt anything like that before. And as a suddenly memory flashing in her mind of a faceless man towering menacingly above her…she hoped she never would again.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The F.B.I field office was a hive of activity as Mulder made his way through the bustling crowd of Agents to reach the door of Carroway's office. He lifted his hand ready to knock, just as Carroway opened it before him. "Ahh good morning sunshine" she said with a broad smile "I was just going to make some coffee, do you want one?"

"Yeah, thanks" he replied gratefully, having missed out on his morning caffeine fix due to the lack of facilities at the hotel, and the fact that he'd overslept…

As he sat on one of the chairs beside her desk, she returned a few minutes later with the full jug of coffee. Placing a cup in front of him, she proceeded fill it with the steaming liquid. "That smells good" Mulder commented.

"Unfortunately I can't promise that it tastes any good though" she smiled back in return. When she didn't look away, he swiped a hand over his face self-consciously "What is it? Do I have something stuck in my teeth?"

"No I was just thinking that you look especially handsome this morning"

Taken a-back by, this Mulder looked down at his wrinkled grey suit complete with garish tie, and ran a hand over his stubbly chin "I seriously doubt that River, I look like a vagrant and you know it"

She laughed and leaned over the desk conspiratorially, with her face merely inches away from his own. "Not to me you don't"

It was at that moment when there came a knock on the office door, and Scully poked her head through the gap.

"Come in Agent Scully" Carroway said rising away from him, but not before steeling one last glance in his direction. She found that Mulder was looking suitable flustered, and suddenly fascinated by his own tie. "He couldn't look guiltier if he tried," Carroway thought to herself with pleasure... "Before we start, can I get you a cup of coffee, Agent Scully?

"Yes, that would be great thank you" Scully answered as she took off her jacket. "Make yourself at home, I'll just get a fresh jug" Carroway said as she left the office.

Scully placed her briefcase onto Carroway's desk. She wasn't sure what she'd just interrupted, but there was a definite air of tension in the room. Not to mention the fact that Carroway was grinning like the Cheshire cat and Mulder looked completely embarrassed, or was it shame-faced. She couldn't tell.

"What's going on Mulder?" she ventured, watching him out if the corner of her eye as she opened her briefcase and took out notebook and pen "you're acting like I've just caught you with your hand in the cookie jar?"

"I don't know what you mean?" he replied quietly, tugging at the knot of his tie.

Scully was about to speak again when Carroway re-entered the office with the coffee jug and another cup. "Here you go Agent Scully," Carroway said as she put them down on the desk.

"Thank you" she replied pouring herself a cup. "Has there been any more developments with the case? I presume Mulder brought you up to speed about the connection between the victims?"

"Yes Mulder mentioned it, and no unfortunately nothing new has come to light," Carroway answered flicking through the case file, which was on the desk in front of her.

"Why don't we start from the beginning?" Mulder offered as he took a sip of his coffee. "Let's go through the case notes with Scully and see where we go from there".

"Sounds like a plan" Carroway smiled, shoving the case file across the desk towards her. Scully took the file and opened it at the first page.

"So there you have it," said Carroway as she leaned back in her chair, chewing on the top of her pen "that's what we've got so far. The victims, circumstances, witness interviews and now this new information about the chat room."

"I think what we need to do now is establish a link between the victims" said Scully turning to look at Mulder as she spoke.

"We know they all used Night Chatter, but do they have something else in common? Someone they all chatted to online maybe…"

"Maybe we should check that out," said Mulder as he reached across the table to pull the case file towards him. "I had Byers send me the details of the company that run the website. The company director, a guy called Douglas Grant…has an office down town; I'm thinking we should ask him some questions."

"But what would that achieve?" interjected Carroway, sitting up straight in her chair as she spoke. "I would lay money down that this company director guy is just a corporate big wig, who wouldn't have the first clue about any individual users of the chat room."

"Well it wouldn't hurt to ask" Mulder said turning to Scully. "Why don't you and I pay him a visit, Scully?"

Scully nodded, pleased to find that Mulder wasn't going to go off on his own and leave her with Carroway.

"What about me?" Carroway asked putting a hand on the case file, as Mulder reached across the desk to grab it. "You can't just ditch me, this is my investigation"

"We're not ditching you" Mulder replied sounding mildly irritated. "There's still one victim yet to be identified…"

"And to find out what happened to the rest of his body" Scully added, referring to the severed head of the Hispanic male found with Christian Swifts body.

"Ahh Juan Doe" Carroway said standing up quickly from the desk, and reached behind Mulder to grab her jacket from the coat stand near the door. "Guess I better get to it then." She shrugged on her coat, grabbed her briefcase and practically marched out of the door.

Scully looked at Mulder, who was staring after Carroway as she hustled her way through the crowd of Agents outside.

"What's with her Mulder?" Scully said as she put on her own jacket, "She's acting like a petulant child."

"I'll be damned if I know." Mulder said still sporting a puzzled frown. "Let's go Scully. I need a sugar fix before we go see this Douglas Grant guy"

She knew that meant stopping off at a diner for half a dozen donuts, and maybe another coffee or three. "The first coffees on me Mulder." Scully smiled as she headed out of the door.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

After stopping off at a nearby diner for coffee and donuts, Mulder and Scully headed for the Lower Manhattan business district where the offices of Douglas Grant was situated. Thinking it may be quicker on foot than by car, they had ditched the Taurus in a nearby parking garage and were making their way towards Canal Street. Mulder stopped and pointed to a large glass fronted building at the end of the block "Here we are Scully, DLG Online the company run by Douglas Grant"

As they neared the building, Scully tilted her head upwards, taking in the sheer scale of the glass skyscraper. Even though she lived in a city herself, she couldn't help but admire the style and architecture of these new modern buildings. "Wow business must be good, owning offices like this".

"Well there's big money to be made on the internet Scully" Mulder replied as he held the door open for her; "I'm beginning to get that," she answered as they entered the huge white marble lobby.

A lone female receptionist sat at a desk at the far side of the lobby. She never even lifted up her head in acknowledgement as they walked towards her, with Scully's heels making a loud click-clacking sound against the marble floor. They stopped in front of the desk, looking at each other in amusement as the receptionist still refused to lift up her head.

"Err excuse me miss" Scully tried leaning over the desk to attract her attention. The young woman looked thoroughly bored as she stared at a notebook in front of her, loudly chewing on a piece of gum.

"Welcome to DLG Online. I'm Brandy, what can I do for you today?" She said in a flat monotone voice, finally lifting her head to greet them.

"We're Special Agents Scully and Mulder from the FBI," Scully said raising her ID at the same time as Mulder. "We'd like to speak with the managing director, Mr Grant if possible please?"

"Do you have an appointment?" Brandy said flicking back a lock of platinum blond hair

"No we're hoping you might just let us see him," Mulder said lifting his I.D again, waving it back and forth, "You know, with us being FBI and all."

Brandy blew and popped a large pink bubble, looking even more bored and unenthusiastic as she reached under the desk to press a button. A buzzer sounded and a green light appeared at the door beside the reception. "You're lucky he's not in a meeting right now. Go on through, to the end of the corridor, turn left, take the elevator to the tenth floor and take a seat in the waiting area."

"Thank you Brandy." Mulder said his voice full of sarcasm "You've been very helpful".

As they walked down the corridor, Mulder slipped his I.D back into his inside jacket pocket and smiled down at Scully who was walking slightly in front of him. "What a piece of work huh?"

"The youth of today Mulder." She smiled in return "It doesn't make a very good first impression though does it?"

They had been sitting in the waiting area for around fifteen minutes before the door to Douglas Grants office finally opened, and a plump middle-aged man with a severely receding hairline and at least three double chins stepped through the door, and out into the corridor.

"Agents Mulder and Scully?"

"Yes" answered Scully, standing up "Are you Mr Grant?"

"I am indeed. Come on through to my office and take a seat". He held the door open for them as they passed through the doorway and stepped into the large open plan office, which was surrounded by floor to ceiling windows each giving magnificent view of the city.

"I feel like I should apologise on behalf of my receptionist. Brandy's actually my niece and she's here on work experience, but I don't believe she's very suited to the job."

"Its fine Mr Grant," Scully reassured him with a thin smile.

"So I'm a little worried," the executive said as he squeezed behind his desk to sit down on the black leather office chair opposite them. "What have I done to deserve a visit from the FBI?"

"We just wanted to ask you some questions concerning a murder case we're currently working on," said Mulder

"Murder?" Douglas repeated, suddenly looking nervous as his eyes darted quickly between the pair of them "whose murder?"

"Well unfortunately the case involves multiple victims," Scully said before being interrupted again by Douglas whose face was getting redder by the second. "Look I don't know what this has to do with me or my company? I don't do any kind of shady business here y'know?" he fidgeted in his chair while loosening the tie around his neck.

"We're not implying that you do Mr Grant," Mulder said before calmly placing a piece of paper on the desk, pointing to some text highlighted on the page. "One of the websites run by your company is called Night Chatter, is that right?"

"Yes that's right," Douglas said as he scanned the list of names on the page, "I don't know any of these people? They don't work for me as far as I'm aware".

"No we know that they don't" Scully said, "These are the names of the victims."

"Jesus…" said Douglas as he reached for a glass that was sitting on the desk in front of him, his hand looking a little shaky as he took a large gulp of water. "So what has it got to do with my website?"

"Each victim apart from the first, who was an elderly man; were all frequent visitors in that chat room. As far as we can tell they had no previous links to each other, but we do know they all conversed online about sleep disorders." Mulder said before adding, "How did you come to set up a website about this particular topic? It's not your typical chat room fodder."

"No not really. If you did your research on my company, which I'm sure you did; you'll know that I mainly run computer dating websites, like Friendly Match is very a popular site."

Mulder and Scully both nodded at this, remembering the information provided by the Lone Gunmen. Douglas Grant was now a multi-millionaire thanks to his growing empire of property and dating websites.

"But I actually set up this website as sort of a favour for a friend" Douglas continued, "It was one of the first I set up when I founded the company, and I just happened to know a guy who wanted a website setting up based around his business which was for alternative therapies and counselling. It started from there, and as he was finding many of his clients wanted to get in touch with others who were going through the same thing, we started up a chat room. And the rest is history I guess..."

"So you run this website on behalf of someone else?" Scully asked looking through her notes. "I don't seem to have any other information about a business partner."

"Yes, well I take care of the website, run the business side of things but he is actually a counsellor by profession. In fact, he runs a support group for people with emotional difficulties, sleeping problems, stress…that kind of thing. His name's Ernst Zimmerman, I went to college with him."

"Where would we be able to find Mr Zimmerman, does he live in the area?" asked Scully, as she exchanged glances with Mulder whose interest was suddenly peaked at the mention of what Zimmerman did for a living.

"Yeah he lives just outside of the city. He runs the support group from his house actually." He reached inside the drawer of his mahogany desk and brought out a pen and paper. "Here's the address if you need it, although I can't see that Ernst would know anything about those murders, he's the most chilled out guy on the planet; nothing fazes him."

"Well thank you for this Mr Grant" Mulder said as he reached over and took the paper out of Douglas's hand. "We'll be in touch if we need any more information".

Once they had made it back to the car, Mulder climbed into the driver's seat and slipped on his seat belt. "So what do you think Scully, should we pay Zimmerman a visit?"

"Definitely, it seems like a viable lead. Maybe he knew some of the victims personally."

"That's what I'm hoping" Mulder answered with a small smile, as he turned the key to start the engine….

After crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, Mulder reached into the glove compartment and threw a folded up map at Scully, who had been drifting in and out of consciousness as they slowly passed through heavy traffic

"Wakey wakey dream boat." Mulder smiled as Scully sat bold up right in her seat, startled as the map landed heavily in her lap. She shot Mulder a quick look of annoyance, before turning her face back towards the window

"It's too late Scully, I've already clocked the drool" he chuckled in amusement

"Obviously I have no idea what you're talking about?" she quipped and then turned back towards the window, quickly wiping the back of her hand across her mouth and chin. There _was_ a little drool…

"Scully, can you look up Prospect Street on the map for me?" Mulder asked as he followed the road signs for Park Slope, a wealthy residential area of Brooklyn.

"Yeah we're nearly here Mulder," she said after scanned the map for a second. "Just turn right at the bottom of this street," Scully pointed to a road sign up ahead.

After negotiating a couple of blind bends, a loose dog and kid riding his bicycle in the middle of the street, Mulder eventually pulled up outside number 12 Prospect Street. The house wasn't anything like he'd expected; in a stark contrast to the sleek architecture of their office building the home of Ernst Zimmerman looked like it had been caught in a 60's time warp.

It was set back away from the road, and surrounded by flourishing rose gardens and a white picket fence. Mulder got out of the car and followed Scully up towards the gates, and despite the elegant if not a little dated façade of the house, he couldn't help but feel a slight chill as he made his way up the steps towards the front door. With its imposing grey stone and dark wooden windows, it reminded him of the time when he'd been nine years old and had accompanied his father to a local funeral home where he'd gone to visit his recently deceased grandfather. It had the same dark frontage, with wooden steps just like the ones he had just ascended. If he closed his eyes, he could still smell the scent of dead flowers…

Scully glanced back over her shoulder, throwing him a quizzical look as she caught sight of his sombre expression. "What is it?" she asked looking towards the windows of the house.

"I don't know. I just got the feeling like somebody stepped over my grave," he answered with a slight shudder.

Scully nodded and leaned in towards him; "Duh duh da da" *click*,* click* she snapped her fingers and softly sang The Addams Family theme song into his ear.

"You won't be laughing if that big guy, Lurch answers the door." He eventually smiled, and grasped the large metal doorknocker, and rapped it three times against the wood.

There was no warning as the door suddenly swung open and the silhouette of a large man appeared in the doorway.

"Can I help you?" The man asked in a low voice, his form still obscured as he stood amongst the shadows from the inside of the house.

"Hi, we're looking for a Mr Ernst Zimmerman". Mulder said peering inside the house. "It is Lurch…," he thought to himself, as he caught a glimpse of the man's shape hidden behind the door. By the size of the guy's shadow, he had to be pushing six and a half, maybe even seven feet tall.

"I'm Mr Zimmerman" the man said slowly before adding "But if you're here to try and sell me something, I think you might have had a wasted journey.

"No we're not sales people Mr Zimmerman, we're with the FBI. I'm Special Agent Scully and this is my partner Agent Mulder." Scully lifted her badge and gestured to Mulder who did the same.

"What is this about?" Zimmerman said as he finally stepped onto the porch.

Mulder had been right; Zimmerman was practically a giant. He was nearly as wide as he was tall, with massive shoulders and a huge frame. His face was craggy and his features hard like that of a heavy weight boxing champion.

He noticed that Scully had taken a step back away from the door, and he couldn't blame her. Zimmerman was an imposing figure by anybody's standards.

When Scully didn't answer him, Mulder cut in and nodded his head towards the inside of the house. "May we come in and speak to you Mr Zimmerman. I'm afraid we have some questions for you in regards to a murder investigation."

"A murder…my goodness. Yes, come in by all means." Zimmerman stepped back into the house and held the door open for them to enter. Mulder placed a hand on Scully's back motioning for her to go first, but when she still didn't move, Mulder turned towards her in concern.

He took one look at her pale face and felt instantly worried. "Scully, are you OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Mulder" she said quietly, finally taking a hesitant step towards the door, trying to keep her composure when everything in her being told her not to step over that threshold.

She was being silly, of course she was…But the nagging feeling would not go away.

How could she tell Mulder, that she was more or less certain that this was the same man from her dream? The faceless man who had tried to kill her.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"This way" Zimmerman ushered the two Agents into the hall and gestured towards a doorway to their left. As they walked into the room, Mulder noticed how old everything looked. The dark blue pattered wallpaper was peeling at the edges, the mahogany furniture looked shabby and worn, and so did the carpet. God this place was depressing.

"Please take a seat, "Zimmerman said pointing to a battered loveseat near the window, its floral upholstery long faded out by the sun. They both sat down tentatively, and waited for Zimmerman to sit down in an armchair opposite them. "So what's all this about?" he said looking from one to the other. "I don't know anything about a murder; I barely even leave the house."

"We're not implying that you do Mr Zimmerman." Mulder spoke up. "We've actually just spoken to a friend of yours, Mr Douglas Grant who runs a website for you, Night Chatter. From our investigations we believe you might know some of the victims, and wondered if you could maybe tell us some more about them"

"I might know the victims?" he said his face growing pale "Who is it? What happened to them?"

Scully opened the file she'd been holding, and read from the list of names, watching for any kind of reaction as she did so, "Albert Fineman, Heather Thomas, Billy Rose, Macey Egbert, Christian Swift and also an unidentified male in his 50's".

"Oh my, this is…this is unbelievable!" Zimmerman rose from his chair and began to pace about the room.

"You know these people, Mr Zimmerman?" Scully asked as she watched him walk restlessly about the room. "Yes, I do know three of them." He stopped by the side of the fireplace, and looked into the mirror hanging on the wall above it as he spoke. "Heather, Macey and Christian were all members of my sleep disorder workshop."

"Did they attend this workshop regularly?" Mulder asked.

"Certainly Heather did, I've been counselling her for years and she attended every week without fail until a couple of months ago, but I presumed she'd decided to use the chatroom instead like the other two; Macey and Christian."

"They stopped coming to the group?" Scully asked, making some notes on the file. "Yes, I think they preferred the anonymity of the internet rather than talking to each other face to face. I suppose that's the culture we live in these days." Zimmerman said sadly, as he sat down heavily on the chair and leant over to place his head in his hands. "How did they die?" he asked quietly.

"It seems like they all died at the hands of a serial killer." Mulder said. "I'll spare you the details Mr Zimmerman, but we know they all died a very violent death, and we would like to establish why the killer chose them specifically. By doing so we might be able to stop any more murders."

Zimmerman simply nodded and continued to sit with his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry if this has been upsetting news for you Mr Zimmerman," said Scully looking at Mulder for backup.

"Yes, this is terrible news indeed." Zimmerman said finally raising his head. "But I have to tell you I don't know the other victims. I have regular attendees at my workshops and I have never heard those names before."

"What about this man?" Mulder said as he held up a close-up photograph of the Hispanic male whose decapitated head was found together with Christian Swift's body. Zimmerman leant across, took the photo from Mulders hand, and studied the face closely.

"Oh my lord….No I don't know this man either, I'm sorry." He said handing it back to Mulder.

"That's fine Mr Zimmerman you've been very helpful." Scully said looked across to Mulder who nodded in agreement, and stood up from the loveseat.

"Here's my card, If you can think of anything else that you think may be relevant please give me a call."

Zimmerman stood from his armchair and took the card from Mulders hand. "Yes I will thank you."

"Don't worry we'll see ourselves out." Scully said edging towards the doorway, followed closely by Mulder.

"That is one creepy looking dude." Mulder said as he started the car, and looked across when she didn't reply. "Are you alright Scully, you seemed a little nervous in there?"

"Yeah, fine." She answered quickly, reaching around to fit her seatbelt. "Just tired perhaps. I'm looking forward to getting something to eat, and taking a nice bubble bath."

"Oh really…." Mulder leered, over her while waggling his eyebrows. "If that's an invitation, then bring it on. I'm game if you are Scully."

"Shut up and drive Mulder…" She said giving him a withering look. He laughed and began to pull the car away from the curb. "Did you notice his reaction when you read out the list of victims?"

"Don't you mean lack of reaction?" she answered thinking of Zimmerman's hard face and cold stare. "Exactly." Mulder said. "He's hiding something, and we need to find out what it is, and fast."

As they heading down the street, Mulder turned to look back at the house to see Zimmerman stood in the window, watching them drive away.

An hour later, they had arrived back at the hotel and after waving Mulder off in the corridor; she closed the door to her hotel room, took off her jacket and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. God she was so tired, she could barely think straight. Deciding that a lovely warm bubble bath was in order she slipped off her shoes, grabbed her wash bag and padded into the bathroom. Shutting the door behind her, she was just about to undress when a dawning realisation hit her like a slap in the face. Oh right…she'd forgotten, there wasn't even a bathtub in this hellhole. Just a mouldy old shower with a cracked screen and a blocked drain.

"Great…" she muttered to herself sliding back the screen in disgust. Another reason to kick Mulders ass in the morning….

After she'd taken a tepid shower, and demolished a rather questionable club sandwich from the hotels room service, she finally collapsed onto the bed. She slid under the covers and reached over to shut off the bedside lamp. It wasn't long before she slipped into a deep sleep…

Scully opened her eyes to find that she was standing in the corner of a darkened room. The walls were completely blank with no doors, no windows. The room possessed no furniture, just black and empty. As she stared in front of her the room seemed never-ending with no far wall to speak of, just a continuing void. She turned around quickly, trying to touch the walls but as soon as she laid her hands onto its surface, it disappeared as if going through thick, shimmering smoke. Was she dreaming? She must be….Another nightmare perhaps; but why did it feel so real?

Then all at once, her confusion turned into a feeling of a very different kind. Fear.

She knew she wasn't alone in this strange room. There was another person standing in the opposite corner. Observing her silently, intently watching her every move like a tiger waiting to pounce upon its unsuspecting prey. She couldn't see his face, but she knew who it was.

"Where am I?" She asked in a shaking voice. She did not recognised this voice, it sounded weak and pitiful like a frightened child.

"What do you want?" She tried again, this time with a little more conviction. However, the man didn't answer, he just continued to watch her silently.

Suddenly he stepped forward and began to walk across the floor in her direction. Scully tried to turn, to run away, but her feet became frozen to the spot. It wasn't due to fear why her feet wouldn't move; they had sunken into the floor as if she was standing ankle deep in black quick sand.

"Stay away from me!" she yelled, pulling at each of her legs in turn, willing for her feet to be free of the sinking sand, but it was no use. He reached her in an instant, his body looming over her like a dark impenetrable tower, a giant fortress of a man.

"Nooo!" She cried as Zimmerman clasped one giant hand around her throat and lifted her clear of the floor, and pinned her against the wall which was no longer soft as smoke , but harder than concrete.

She struggled and fought as hard as she could, but her strength was no match for his, as she felt his grip around her neck getting tighter and tighter.

There must be a way out, she thought frantically, as the edges of her vision began to blur and fade to nothing. This cannot be real; I can't go out like this. I can't leave everyone behind…

"Mulder!" She was screaming inside, no longer able to utter a word. "Mulder help me, please I…"

"Scully…"

I just heard his voice. He's in here somewhere. Why can't I see him? "Mulder, where are you?" She tried desperately to turn her head, to look for him; but Zimmerman would not let her move, his grip becoming even tighter.

Scully took one last gulp of air, as the image of Zimmerman's face began to fade away, and she closed her eyes tightly as she listened to the voice, calling out her name.

"SCULLY! SCULLY WAKE UP!"

I am dreaming. I _am_ dreaming. Mulder. "MULDER!" she screamed, amazed to find that she could now use her voice, and breathe freely. The hand was gone. Zimmerman was gone.

"Scully, it's me wake up"

Her eyes flew open to see Mulder's face directly above hers, as he leaned over her on the bed. He looked panic-stricken. "Scully, thank God you're awake. You were choking…your lips were going blue."

She sat up quickly, and wrapped her arms around him in an awkward embrace. Trying but failing to stop the wracking sobs that had seized her body, she pressed her face against his chest and nuzzled into the soft fabric of his grey cotton t-shirt.

Sitting down more comfortably on the edge of the bed, he hugged her closer to him. He lowered his head so that he could whisper soothing words in her ear "It's all right…I'm here Scully," and then he just held her for what seemed like an age but in reality was maybe only a couple of minutes. He hated to see her cry, each anguished sob tore at his heart like knife. This was not Scully…it simply wasn't like her to show such vulnerability, and the thought of that scared him to death. What could have possibly happened in that nightmare to frighten her so badly?

"I'm okay Mulder," she said eventually pulling away from him, self-consciously wiping the tears from her eyes

"You don't seem okay to me," he said, smoothing back a few strands of hair that had fallen across her face and gently tucking them behind her ear.

This simple gesture caught her off guard for a second, and she felt her lower lip beginning to quiver again as the memory of Zimmerman's face returned to her once more, the fear slowly rising from the pit of her stomach. She had to be stronger than this; she _was_ stronger than this…but why did she have the overwhelming urge to cling on to Mulder as if her life depended on it?

"No I'm fine….really." she said, the words catching in her throat as she looked him in the eye willing him to believe it, even if she didn't believe it herself.

He didn't look convinced. "I feel like there's something you're not telling me," He said holding her gaze for a second, as he reached over to place his hand over hers. "We've been partners for a long time Scully. I need you to tell me when somethings wrong."

"No, there's nothing wrong Mulder" she replied as she looked down at his large hand covering her own, drawing strength from the warmth and familiarity of his touch.

"Just another bad dream", she smiled, feeling relieved to hear the conviction had returned to her voice.

"What were you dreaming about?" he asked "Was somebody trying to hurt you again?"

"Maybe…I don't know" she shrugged. "Look, I don't want to get into it now."

"Okay, but if somethings bothering you, I really wish you'd talk to me. Maybe it would help." He said not making any moves to leave.

"We'll talk in the morning and thank you…" she paused, trying to think of a sentence that didn't make her sound like a pathetic damsel in distress. "Thank you for being there…"

Her eyes flicked upwards, expecting to find him smiling at her lame attempt of showing gratitude, but instead his face was deadly serious.

She felt herself take a sharp intake of breath, as she looked into his eyes. She had _never_ seen him looking at her like this before. The raw power of his gaze sent hot and cold shivers up and down her spine. She vaguely became aware that his thumb had begun to stroke the back of her hand, moving slowly back and forth, back and forth. "You're welcome" he answered softly.

"Mulder…" she managed to utter, his name blowing across her lips in a low, hot whisper. It was meant as a warning for him to back away, to stop looking at her like that. However, it sounded desperate even to her ears. "What?" he asked, a slowly smile beginning to tug at the side of his lips.

"I…" she started, the words suddenly escaping her as she saw the look in his eyes, and the unbridled emotion that swirled in their hazel depths. Fear, frustration, longing, trust, love. It was all there for her to see, and it simply astounded her.

"Nothing" she said, moving her face closer to his…


	15. Chapter 15

Authors Notes

Thank you to the people who left a review for my previous chapters, I really enjoy reading them and it gives me a boost to carry on with the story. Anybody thinking of reviewing, whether it be good or bad please do so….Thanks again! L x

Chapter 15

It was 2.30am when Douglas Grant sat up in bed and reached over to turn on the bedside lamp. He'd been awake for hours, just watching the steady rotation of the ceiling fan and listening to the noisy crickets outside the bedroom window. He couldn't sleep, but this wasn't unusual for him. Whether it was the stress of his job, the size of his mortgage or simply because his shopaholic wife and two teenage daughters were steadily bleeding him dry, he had grudgingly come to accept that insomnia was now a way of life for him.

With a tired sigh, he turned and grabbed the paperback novel that was on his bedside table, and reached across for his reading glasses. He perched them on the end of his nose as he opened the book and flicked through until he found his bookmark nestled between the dog-eared pages. He turned the page and began to read when a sudden thumping noise from downstairs startled him enough to drop the book onto his lap. It sounded like something heavy hitting the ground. He took a quick glance over at his wife Kathy who continued to sleep oblivious to anything and everything around her, as the earplugs and eye mask she wore to bed every night stayed firmly in place.

"It could have been the cat," he thought to himself, knowing that his daughters were both out and were not due back until the following morning. He slipped out of bed and walked over to the bedroom door, which was slightly ajar giving him a view of the hallway outside. After listening for a couple of seconds, he was just about to turn back toward the bed when he heard something else. Another noise coming from below, only this time it was much clearer. It was the sound of the kitchen door opening, and then careful footsteps walking across the wooden hallway at the bottom of the stairs.

Douglas turned and hurriedly ran around to his wife's side of the bed. "Kathy, wake up." He said as he grabbed her shoulder giving it a violent shake, waking her instantly.

"Doug, what in God's name is going on?" Kathy exclaimed in surprise as she quickly sat up and yanked the eye-mask up and over her forehead. "Have you gone crazy?"

"Shhhh…" he said leaning over her while looking towards the bedroom door "There's somebody downstairs, I think we're being robbed" he whispered, "I've just heard them moving around down there."

"What? Oh my God" she said in a hushed tone, before taking his arm "But wait a minute, Doug it might be Ashley or Melody coming home early from Jenny's sleepover? The intruder alarm hasn't even gone off."

"Yeah you could be right" he realised, the blessed feeling of relief sudden washing over him. He hadn't even thought about the alarm, and he knew how prone both his daughters were for turning up in the middle of the night having lost their house keys.

"I guess I should go down and check it out though. Just in case." he said moving hesitantly back towards the door.

"Doug, wait." Kathy whispered, reaching under the bed "take the baseball bat," she pulled out the bat and handed it to him "Just in case."

Douglas nodded and opened the door quietly, listening for any sounds coming from below as he then edged along the hall and stood at the top of the stairs. Whomever he'd heard sneaking about a moment ago had now gone from the hallway, meaning they were in either the kitchen or living room; those being the only two doors leading off the hall.

Rationally he knew that it was probably one of the girls, but why did he have the overwhelming feeling that he shouldn't go down the stairs. That something bad was waiting for him if he did.

He took a deep breath, raised the bat and began to creep down the stairs with his heart hammering in his chest.

When he finally reached the bottom, he turned to the back wall in order to turn on the light but as he flicked the switch, nothing happened. "Damn light bulb must have blown," he thought to himself, trying to ignore the panicky voice at the back of his mind that was telling him _not_ to go any further.

Using the sleeve of his pyjamas' he wiped the sweat from his brow and crept across the hall where he reached the intruder alarm. Even in the darkness, he could see there was no power going into the unit, as the indicator lights that were usually illuminated green were now completely out. No wonder the alarm hadn't sounded; there was no electricity for the whole downstairs part of the house.

"Doug!" Kathy suddenly hissed loudly from the top of the stairs, making him jump in fright "What's going on, is it the girls?"

He hurried back toward the foot of the stairs and began to wave his arm back and forth, gesticulating towards the bedroom "Kathy, go back in our room and shut the door now. Someone's in the house, and they've cut the power down here. Call the Police."

"Oh my God" she uttered, rushing back along the hall and into the bedroom. As she closed the door behind her, the light from the table lamp suddenly went out, plunging the room into darkness. Panicked, Kathy stumbled across the floor and grabbed the telephone receiver, putting it to her ear as she dialled 911.

"Come on, come on" she said waiting for a dial tone; but there wasn't one. The line was dead. Someone had cut the telephone lines.

Downstairs, Douglas grasped the baseball bat tightly between his hands and crept across the hallway towards the living room. The door was closed, and after listening outside for a second, he grasped the handle and pushed, swinging the door open into the darkened room. The curtains were open allowing some illumination from the street lamps and pale light of the full moon outside to shine in through the large windows. He stepped inside quickly, holding the bat up high, his eyes darting into each dark corner of the room looking for someone hiding in the shadows. "Is somebody in here?" he managed to choke out, his mouth completely dried out from fear, so much so that he felt like his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth.

He took a deep breath hoping to steady his nerves but this only made him more aware of his hammering heart, jagged breathing and shaking hands.

"I have a weapon," he said fearfully, gripping the handle of the bat even tighter for reassurance "My wife is calling the Police. I'm sure they'll be here any minute so….."

Clang! A clattering noise coming from the kitchen sounded like a metal pan landing heavily on the ceramic tiled floor. Douglas stopped in his tracks, as the noise appeared to resonate through the house, like a shockwave ripping through the silence. He stood for a few minutes, listening carefully for any more signs of movement, but the house was deathly quiet once again. Slowly he turned around about to head for the kitchen, when he was startled to see the silhouette of a large man standing in the doorway.

"Who are you?" "What are you doing in my house?" Douglas said in a quivering voice no lounder than a whisper.

The man stepped forward from the doorway, his face suddenly revealed by the dim moonlight.

"Is that….Ernst, what are you doing here?" he said relieved to see the face of his old friend.

Zimmerman said nothing as he began to move towards Douglas. "Ernst, is everything alright? It's the middle of the night."

"You should have kept your mouth shut, and then there would be no reason for me to do this." Zimmerman finally said as he reached Douglas and grabbed the baseball bat from his hand.

"Do what Ernst, I don't understand?" he said stepping backwards in shock, the backs of his legs hitting a foot stool sitting on the floor directly behind him, causing him to trip and fall awkwardly to the ground.

Zimmerman reached down with one hand and grabbed Douglas by the neck, lifting him into the air ignoring the strangled cries coming from his friend. Douglas kicked his legs frantically, hoping to loosen the vice like grip, but if anything this only made Zimmerman squeeze even tighter. Without warning, he was flung to the ground; landing in the corner like a limp rag doll.

Dazed and confused, he tried to lift his arms in a weak attempt at defending himself but there was no more strength or fight left in his body. As he fearfully looked up at the man towering above him, baseball bat in hand he began to cry. He cried for his wife alone and vulnerable in the bedroom upstairs and he cried for his two teenage daughters, who would be left without a father. But most of all he cried for Ernst Zimmerman, his once loyal and trusted friend. Zimmerman raised the bat; and Douglas locked eyes with the man who would soon be his killer. Only it was not a man that looked back at him with a cold and ruthless stare. It was a monster.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Scully hesitated and let her face hover slightly above his and as she moved her gaze down to his impossibly full and completely kissable lower lip, she felt her cheeks begin to burn with an involuntary flush of heat.

She closed her eyes as the images of their last encounter played at the back of her mind. Fuzzy and blurred around the edges, these flickering pictures faded in and out of her memory like a forgotten old movie played long ago. The corridor outside of his apartment, the softness of his touch as he held her face in his hands. How he'd looked at her. They had never spoken of it since, never even acknowledged that at that moment; their relationship could have changed forever. If it wasn't for that damn bee….

Regardless of how that ended, she knew that at that moment something had been set into motion between them, and would never be resolved until one of them was brave enough to take that first step. To bridge the gap. She just never imagined it would be her to make the move…Or that it would be in the middle of the night, in a God-awful hotel…with a broken spring from a worn out mattress digging in her ass.

She smiled at the thought, and closed her eyes as she felt the first touch of his lips against her own. She didn't even time to relish the wonderful feeling of the feather light caress, before Mulder pulled away slightly and whispered, "If you don't want this Scully, tell me now because…"

He'd barely finished the sentence before he felt her hand reach up to the back of his neck, pulling him in even closer "Mulder, don't you ever know when to shut up?" she whispered back, before pressing her lips firmly against his.

BANG! Came the sound of the hotel door as it was flung wide open and bounced hard against the wall "Mulder are you…oh my god!"

Scully's eyes flew open to see Carroway standing in the doorway, her gun half raised with an expression of pure shock on her face. They pulled apart quickly, with Mulder jumping up from the bed like a guilty teenager. "River, what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. I have been trying to reach you for at least an hour; I've called your cell like 50 times….so I decided to call by here on my way to the crime scene. When you didn't come to the door, I thought something was wrong."

"That doesn't mean you have the right to just barge your way in here," Scully said as she tightened the belt of her robe and came to stand beside Mulder, both hands on her hips. Defiant.

"I didn't _barge_ my way in here," Carroway said, the tone of her voice becoming increasingly hostile. "I saw the lock on the door was busted off. The door is practically hanging from its hinges."

"That's my fault Scully," Mulder said turning to face her "I sort of broke the door down when I heard you shouting earlier. I must not have closed it properly."

"Great" Scully muttered quietly, closing her eyes for a second.

"Excuse me, while I hate to break up the little party you two have got going on over here. There's the small matter of a double murder to consider." Carroway said as she turned back toward the door, causing Scully to wince inwardly. _God this was awkward._

"Double murder. Who are the victims?" Mulder said as he started toward the door.

"Douglas and Kathy Grant" Carroway answered. She looked at Scully pointedly "I'll wait for you in the car Mulder" and walked out of the room.

Mulder turned to Scully "I'm sorry, I didn't…."

"Mulder stop." She said cutting him off "There's no time for this. I don't want to give her any more ammunition than she's already got".

"Alright" Mulder said, "I'll get dressed and meet you downstairs." Scully nodded in agreement and began to take off her robe, throwing him a warning look as he continued to stand and stare at her, as if transfixed when she started to unbutton her nightshirt.

"Mulder" she cautioned with a smile, "get out of here, and shut the door behind you."

He returned her smile and headed for the door.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Authors Note. Warning-This chapter is a gory one, and probably not for the squeamish!

Scully took a deep breath and turned to look through car window and out to the pretty streets of Westchester. She hated to sit in the back seat, tending to feel a little car sick as the scenery whizzed by in an endless blur. However, this car ride seemed particularly long and drawn out, as Carroway had chosen to drive the entire journey in complete silence. She glanced briefly at Mulder who was sitting up front beside Carroway, he too was staring out of the window seemingly intent on watching the cars and houses flash by. It was then that she caught sight of Carroway staring at her through the rear view mirror, a sour expression on her face.

"If looks could kill," she thought, turning away quickly.

As they passed over the brow of a hill, the flashing lights of the Police Squad cars could be seen outside a large white house which was now cordoned off by Police tape. Carroway slowed the car and pulled up alongside one of the squad cars parked haphazardly along the street, and exited the car without so much as a word to either Mulder or Scully. They followed her as she ducked under the police tape and along the garden path leading up to the open front door, which was being guarded by a Patrol officer.

"Officer, I'm Special Agent River Carroway from the F.B.I," she said holding up her badge. "This is Agents Mulder and Scully," She waiting for them to show their identification and continued; "We're here to see Detective Fallows she should be expecting us."

"Yes Ma'am she mentioned you. You can all go in, but you'll need these to put over your shoes." He handed Carroway a box of disposable shoe protectors. "Has the crime scene been processed yet?" Scully asked as she slipped the blue plastic covers over her heels. "It's still in progress, Ma'am," he said as a bright flash appeared behind him as if on cue. Scully looked past the Officer to see two crime scene photographers dressed head to toe in white protective suits, taking pictures of the hallway. "Watch your step as you go in.," the young officer said, glancing down as he stepped aside to let the Agents pass. Carroway headed through the doorway, and it was clear to see why the Officer had asked them to exercise caution. The floor of the hallway had been decorated with a crimson tide of blood.

"Jesus look at this place." Carroway gasped as she stepped further into the hall, allowing room for Mulder and Scully to enter and take in the scene. They all stood in silence for a while, each attempting to make some sense of the violent chaos that had become of the Grant Family home. "Those are drag marks," Scully eventually said, pointing to the bloodstains on the floor "It looks like something heavy was dragged from the living room across the hall and into the kitchen. I'm guessing a dead body by volume of blood loss".

"Yes that's right," answered a woman with a smooth British accent, who entered from the living room to the left of where they were all standing. "It was Douglas Grant's body. From the looks of it, he was beaten to death in the living room and then his body was dragged through the hall and into the kitchen." She paused to look at the three Agents, assessing them. "I'm sorry, I should introduce myself," she said placing a hand to her chest apologetically…"Detective Dee Fallows, I'm the Officer in charge." She was in her late forties, tall and attractive with golden blond hair that had been swept into a neat bun at the nape of her neck. She had a timeless "Old Hollywood" quality and about her that reminded Scully of Lauren Bacall or Katherine Hepburn. A strong woman who could hold her own. Scully liked her instantly. "I'm Special Agent Scully, and this is my partner Agent Mulder". Mulder nodded and smiled.

"Detective Fallows, I'm Special Agent Carroway, we spoke on the phone earlier" Carroway interrupted loudly. "We're investigating a series of homicides in the city and we think this murder may be linked to our investigation."

"Yes that's right I remember Agent Carroway" Fallows said sending a small apologetic smile in the direction of Scully, who was rubbing the top of her arm where Carroway's elbow had connected roughly during her ungainly attempt at squeezing between her and Mulder.

"So you said on the phone that Douglas Grant was recently interviewed in connection with these murders?"

"Yes, during our investigation we discovered that the victims were linked by each visiting a particular chatroom on a website which was created and owned by Grant," answered Carroway.

"Interesting" Fallows said raising her eyebrows, as she appeared to ponder this for a couple of seconds "How would that be the responsibility of the website creator, though? Surely people visit chatrooms of their own free will?"

"It's not the chatroom that interests us, but the common factor between the victims. They all visited the chatroom because they suffered with sleep disorders." Mulder said as he glanced around the hallway. "It seems Douglas Grant and his wife were on the hit list too."

"Speaking of which, why don't I show you the crime scene?" Fallows said as she turned to push open the door leading into the kitchen. The three Agents followed the detective, taking tentative steps to avoid stepping in the trail of blood leading from the hallway.

Douglas Grant's body had been dragged to the far end of the room, and was found to be lying face up with his arms by his sides. His sightless eyes were staring at the ceiling as a puddle of dark congealed blood pooled underneath his head. Scully walked over to the body to take a closer look at his injuries.

"It appears that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the skull" she remarked, as she knelt down beside the body and pressed a gloved finger to the large open wound on the top of Grants head. "I don't mean to be graphic, but the inside of this man's skull looks like a squashed water melon."

"Damn" Mulder muttered under his breath. She glanced up at him, and noticed Carroway who was standing beside him had lost the entire colour from her face, and was now a deathly shade of pale.

"Are you alright Agent Carroway?" Scully asked as she stood and took a step towards her. "Yeah, I'm fine." Carroway answered quickly, flicking a length of dark hair over her shoulder as if to emphasise her point and then turned towards the Fallows. "Detective, have you retrieved the murder weapon?"

"No it hasn't been recovered at the scene, but we're doing a search of the area. I'm thinking it's a bat of some kind, maybe a metal rod." The three of them nodded in agreement, as they silently surveyed the battered remains of Mr Grant lying at their feet.

"And if you think that's bad…" Fallows said grimly "wait until you see Mrs Grant," and with that, she turned and walked out of the room. The Agents followed her as she led them up the stairs, along the hall and through the open door of the master bedroom. A crime scene technician was standing beside the bed taking photographs with a large camera. The flash bulb suddenly illuminated the room in a bright white burst of light. Mulder held a hand up to his eyes, as he was the first to enter the room behind Fallows. He wasn't sure if it was the flash that instinctively made him want to shield his eyes, or the horrific scene that greeted him as he walked into the bedroom. There was blood everywhere. The walls, the bed, the floor and even the ceiling was adorned in long red ribbons of arterial spray. It was like a scene from a slaughterhouse.

"As you can see, the killer really went to town on poor Mrs Grant," Fallows said as she stepped beside the bed.

"My God, what did her do to her?" Scully said, shocked as she surveying the horrendous scene in front of her.

"It seems he literally tore her limb from limb," the Detective said as she carefully walked around the bed. "We think the killers' first move was to slit her throat, hence the blood spray on the walls and ceiling. Looks like this was done with a knife with a sharp serrated blade. He then removed both arms and both legs and scattered them about the room."

"Removed them with what?" Scully asked.

"Well I know this probably sounds impossible." Fallows answered as she walked across the room to the nightstand and pointed to one of Mrs Grants severed arms. "But I think he did this with his bare hands."

"His bare hands?" Mulder asked as he walked over to inspect the limb. "What kind of person would have the strength to do something like that?"

"A bloody big one I'm guessing." Fallows said seriously. "Unless there's something we're missing here…if he used another weapon or some kind of implement or tool…that seems like the only explanation." Scully came over to where Mulder was standing with Fallows when a loud gasp came from the other side of the room. They all turned to see Carroway staring at the floor with a shocked expression on her pale face. She had been standing only millimetres away from a severed human ear, which had been tossed unceremoniously onto the bedroom carpet.

"Oh my God" she said in a small voice before whirling around and running from the room. "Carroway!" Scully called after her. "I better check she's alright," she said to Mulder as she headed for the door.

After checking the front of the house, Scully followed a concrete path around side of the building, which led toward the back garden. She finally located Carroway, bent double over a small hedgerow. She could hear the sound of retching at she approached.

"Carroway, are you okay? Do you need a glass of water?"

Carroway instantly lifted her head, and swiped along her mouth with the back of her hand. She looked angry. "No I'm fine Agent Scully. I'm not a little girl who needs her hand holding"

"I never said that you were Agent Carroway. Look, it is perfectly understandable. You'd have to be made of stone not to find that scene sickening."

"It's nothing like that," said Carroway, still sounding peeved. "I just haven't eaten very much in the last day or so and my stomach feels a tad delicate" she paused before adding "I don't have to explain myself to you anyway. Not after you've just made me look an incompetent idiot in front of everybody in that house…and not once but twice".

"What?" Scully replied. She almost laughed at the absurdity. "I have no idea what you're talking about?"

"Really? _Are you all right Agent Carroway? Do you need a glass of water Agent Carroway, aren't you pathetic Agent Carroway?"_ She said in a mocking tone. "Lord only knows what Agent Mulder and Detective Fallows must think of me after your little display."

Now we're getting to it, thought Scully suddenly catching on. She was only concerned with the fact that she had embarrassed herself in front of Mulder. She really was pathetic.

"I don't have to stand and listen to this." She answered as she then turned and began walking back towards the house. "Oh and Agent Carroway," she added with a smirk as she glanced over her shoulder. "You have vomit on your shoes."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Scully walked back into the bedroom to see Mulder standing beside the window and talking on his cell phone. By the sound of his conversation, he was arranging for her to do an autopsy on one of the bodies. Great, just what she needed with hardly any sleep and an empty stomach. Soon Carroway wouldn't be the only one heaving in the bushes.

"Okay thank you…" Mulder said ending the call. "Hey Scully, guess what?" he said as he placed his cell back in the inside pocket of his jacket and walked over to where she was standing.

"I don't have to guess, I heard you." She said folding her arms, and fixed him with a tired expression. "I have a slice and dice appointment with a dead guy. Lucky me".

"Yeah but it's not a whole dead guy" Mulder said expanding his arms as if to illustrate the dead guys girth…"Just the dead guy's head" he brought his hands together again. The dead guy's head was teeny tiny apparently… As if that makes things any better.

"You mean the Latino gentleman's head found with Christians Swifts body?" Have they identified him?"

"Yes" Mulder answered as he consulted a small notepad taken from his jacket pocket. "His name is Antonio Aguilar Ramirez, a fry cook from Brooklyn. His wife reported him missing the day before we found his remains at Swifts apartment and luckily, the description she gave on the missing person's report matched with the APB the Police Department put out once we'd found his head. I asked Detective Taylor to check with her, and it'll come as no surprise to learn he was also suffering from night terrors and was a regular visitor to Ernst Zimmerman's sleep disorder workshops."

"I think we need to pay Mr Zimmerman another visit, don't you?" Scully said "Preferably with a warrant to search his house".

"I think you're right," Mulder agreed. "I'll take a team over there with Carroway. Meanwhile you have a date at the city Morgue. I told them you'd be there around one thirty."

"Great…" She sighed in annoyance.

At that moment, Detective Fallows breezed into the room behind them. "Agents, we've had a bit of a breakthrough. The crime techs have found a number of fibres on Mr Grant's body that doesn't appear to match with anything they've found in the house….and if you can believe it, a partial thumb print on the face of his wrist watch."

"Looks like the killer got a little sloppy with this one" Mulder said somewhat surprised. All the other crime scenes had turned up with no evidence whatsoever.

"Hopefully this little slip up will be to our advantage," said Fallows. "They're taking both bodies to the morgue now."

Mulder turned to Scully as if to say something, but she held up a hand to stop him in his tracks. "You don't have to say it Mulder," she said, sounding resigned as she walked towards the door "I've got a hot date at the Morgue."

It wasn't long after this when Mulder and Carroway pulled their car up outside the home of Ernst Zimmerman.

"We should have waited for the search warrant." Carroway cautioned as Mulder took off his seatbelt and reached for the door handle. "We don't need a warrant to just talk to the guy. I only want to ask him some more questions."

"Right." Carroway said shooting him with a warning look. Mulder directed his best full wattage smile at her as he existed the vehicle, and smiled inwardly as he noticed her cheeks suddenly flush. Works every time….

As he opened the garden gate and walked up the path towards the house, he began to feel the same sense of foreboding as he had the previous day. This house had a strange energy about it. The rose gardens and white picket fence felt like a façade covering something dark and dangerous inside. He didn't know why, but he was sure of it. He quickened his pace, and almost sprinted up the front steps. He ignored the doorknocker and rapped his fist three times on the hard wood.

"Mulder, wait" Carroway shouted, as she slammed the car door shut and ran past the gate. He ignored her and knocked repeatedly. "FBI, Mr Zimmerman open the door!"

"He's not in there Mulder." Carroway said eventually as she attempted to peer into the living room through the net curtains up at the front windows. "I can't see any movement from inside."

"Well that does it then…" Mulder said as he took out his wallet and selected a credit card.

"Please tell me you're not going to use that to open the door? That's breaking and entering," Carroway warned apparently in vain, as Mulder slid the card into the gap between the doorframe and the lock. "You sound just like Scully" he chuckled and jiggled the card.

"You make a habit out of breaking into people's houses then?" Carroway said, glancing around to make sure no one was watching.

"Only when the need arises…" he smiled, just as a clicking sound came from the lock "Bingo…I think we're in." He quietly pushed open the door, ignoring the rush of cold air that billowed out from the hallway and stepped inside.

"Jesus, it's creepy in here," Carroway said as she followed Mulder down the dark wooden panelled hallway, adorned with old-fashioned portrait paintings hung in ornate golden frames. "Careful, they're watching you." Mulder joked as he nodded towards a large painting of a man and woman hanging at the end of the hall. Carroway eyed the painting warily, it was true…she felt like she was being watched but not by the portrait people…someone out of sight. Maybe from behind her.

As they came up to the entrance to the living room, she whipped her head around suddenly. There was someone there, standing in the hallway. "Mulder!" She hissed sharply, bringing up her weapon.

Mulder immediately spun around at the sound of her voice, expecting to see the suspect standing behind them, but there was no one there. The hallway was empty.

"I don't understand it," Carroway turned toward him with wide puzzled eyes, "It was Zimmerman, I swear I saw him standing there in front of the door."

Mulder nodded, "Okay well if it was Zimmerman, he's not there now. Let's search the rest of the house."

Carroway said nothing, just bobbed her head in agreement and gripped her gun a little tighter for reassurance. With his left hand, Mulder pushed open the door to the living room and they stepped inside.

To be continued…


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The first thing to hit Mulder was the smell of faded potpourri and damp. As the door swung out to smack the wall behind him, he quickly scanned the room for signs of Zimmerman but all that remained, was the same tired furniture he'd seen the first time he'd visited with Scully. "Room's clear," he said to Carroway who appeared from behind, and lowered her weapon.

"Okay let's check…."

A banging sound suddenly shocked her into silence. It was a singular thump followed by the quieter sound of something rolling steadily along the floor. It came from the room directly above them.

"Upstairs." Carroway finished quietly. Mulder nodded and signalled for her to get behind him. He held his gun closer to his body and walked back into the hall. A small white moth flittered in front of his face as he began to ascend the stairs one at a time. He resisted the urge to wave it away, as he looked up towards the darkened rooms above. There were five doors in total on the landing above them, all closed.

Once they'd reached the landing, Carroway followed Mulder as he searched each room one by one and found each one completely empty. No furniture, no carpets or drapes. Just vacant, dusty rooms devoid of any signs of occupancy.

The second to last door at the end of the corridor however wasn't closed. As Mulder approached it quietly, he noticed it was slightly ajar and felt a tiny breath of stale air coming from inside. This was the room directly above where they'd heard the banging sound only a few moments earlier.

He leant an ear against the dark wood and listened for any movements from inside. All was quiet. He turned to look at Carroway who nodded and raised her weapon. He pushed open the door, and stepped inside.

Instead of finding an empty room like the previous three, Mulder found himself standing on a plush pink carpet. There was a large double bed in the middle of the room, draped with a silk throw emblazed with bright red roses. A headless dressmakers dummy stood at the side of the bed, outfitted in a 1920's beaded flapper gown. By the window was a wooden rocking chair.

Mulder lowered his weapon and took a few cautious steps toward the window. He couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

Sat on the chair was the mummified corpse of an elderly woman. She was dressed in a multi-coloured floral gown, her hands clutching at the straps of a burgundy purse sitting on her lap. Sporting a pair of golden reading glasses, they hung lop sided on the bit of gristle that was once a nose. Her long grey hair piled into a messy bun at the top of her head.

"We have company in here." Mulder said almost to himself. Carroway stepped out from behind him, but said nothing as she stared at the desiccated body.

"Finding a stiff is freaky enough" said Mulder "But why is the chair rocking?" They looked at one another, and then back at the chair as it continued its steady movements, back and forth. Back and forth.

After leaving the pink bedroom, they entered the last room at the end of the corridor. Again there was no sign of Zimmerman, but discovered the room was obviously used as a library. The walls occupied by huge floor to ceiling shelving units, all filled with thousands of books.

Mulder holstered his gun and began to pace around the room. Finally, he walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out a couple of books. A small cloud of dust developed as he flicked through the faded pages.

"Anything interesting?" enquired Carroway, walking over to where Mulder was standing.

"Maybe…"he said quietly.

"What is it?" she stooped over to read the cover of the book that he was holding; "Astral Projection: Adventures Above and Beyond…" She chuckled and turned to read the titles of the other books on the shelf. "All these books here, they're all about the same subject…Seriously Mulder, who would actually believe in this crap?"

Mulder looked up from the book, raising his finger. "Well me for starters."

"Oh really?" She spluttered almost comically. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to be so flippant..."

"Don't worry about it," he remarked, replacing the book on the shelf "If I had a dollar for every time someone implied I was a gullible weirdo, I'd be a very rich man."

"You're not a gullible weirdo Mulder. I admire someone who is open and stands by his or her beliefs. It's very refreshing actually."

"Okay, well thank you Carroway." He smiled, eliciting a smile back from her in return. "That's good to know."

"No problem." She grinned. "So you think Astral Projection may play a part in these murders?"

"Well it certainly raises some interesting questions." Mulder said as he turned to face her. "Like, could this be the reason why there was never any sign of forced entry to the victim's properties."

"Or no DNA and prints…" Carroway added.

Mulder nodded in agreement. "Apart from the Grant double murder. That in itself was a whole different ballgame."

"Which make you wonder why that was so different to the others?" Carroway said, glancing around the room again as she spoke. "Why do I still get the feeling like someone's watching me?"

"Well you know what they say…" Mulder said as he walked away from the bookshelf, and toward the bedroom door. "The walls have ears."

"I think you're right." Carroway said as she followed him to the door, feeling spooked as she remembered the dead old woman's eyes in the room next door.

"I think we should head back to the County Morgue. Maybe Scully has found something during the autopsies." He said as they headed back downstairs.

"Okay. I'll get a forensics team over here, and put an APB out for Zimmerman." Carroway said as she reached for her cell phone. "Maybe we'll get lucky, and someone spots him."

"I wouldn't count on it." Mulder said, closing the heavy front door behind them.

Scully snapped on a clean pair of latex gloves and reached up to adjust the bright overhead lamp, so that it shone directly over the severed head laying face up on the autopsy table. At one end of the table was an elevated tray that held an array of surgical instruments. She clicked the record button of her handheld Dictaphone, as she leant over the metal table.

"The time is three-fifteen p.m. I am about to start the examination of the partial remains of Mr Antonio Aguilar Ramirez, a thirty nine year old Hispanic male. The remains consist of a head only, which has been severed at the neck."

Just then, there was a knock, and she looked up to see Mulder and Carroway standing in the open doorway.

She clicked the off button. "Nice of you guys to join me. I'm just about to get acquainted with Mr Ramirez."

"Yeah I see that." Said Mulder as he sauntered over towards the table. He stopped looked down at the raw severed flesh of Ramirez's neck and grimaced. "Excuse me; I'd rather not stand near the squishy end." He walked around the table to stand next to Scully. She gave him a look and whispered "Big baby" under her breath. He smiled.

"So did you find Zimmerman?" Scully asked after a pause.

"No, the house was empty." Said Carroway as she came over from the doorway to stand opposite her. "We did find a few interesting things in there however."

"Really, like what?" Scully answered.

"Like the long dead corpse of a Mrs Josephine Zimmerman" Interjected Mulder

" _Mrs_ Zimmerman" said Scully, a fleeting look of confusion passed over her features as she turned to look up at him. "As in Zimmerman's wife?"

"As in Zimmerman's mother…" he answered, "He'd got mommy dearest sitting at the window in a rocking chair wearing her Sunday best."

"And let's put it this way." Carroway added folding her arms, "She's been there a while. I spoke to someone back at the Office on the way over here. According to our research, Josephine Zimmerman died in 1985."

"Jesus…so he's been living with a corpse for well over thirteen years." Scully said, shocked.

Mulder nodded and replied deadpan; "Norman Bates eat your heart out."

"We also found some books upstairs in the bedroom that might provide some insight into his M.O." Carroway said as she began to pace around the room. The clicking of her stiletto heels against the smooth tiled floor echoed around all around them. She stopped to inspect some objects placed in evidence bags on a counter at the back of the room. "I think Mulder might have an interesting theory actually…"

"Mulder always has an interesting theory." Scully said as she turned back to her partner, who was still standing beside her, a sheepish expression on his face. "Let's hear it."

"Astral projection Scully." He said, the ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He watched as her eyebrows shot up almost to her hairline, and she opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped and just stared back at him. Her blue eyes wide and slightly puzzled.

He fought back the urge to laugh suddenly, and instead leaned over so that his face was level with hers. "Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's rude to stare?"

"You're serious." She returned quickly "Astral projection…"

"Is a term used in esotericism to describe a wilful out-of-body experience, a supposed form of telepathy, that assumes the existence of a soul or consciousness called an astral body, that is separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside of it, and into the astral plane" he continued excitedly. "A world of light between heaven and earth supposedly filled with spirits and demons."

Scully looked away, hands on hips "I think I'm having an out of body experience right now."

He stopped talking, and grabbed her shoulders lightly. "Just think about this Scully. We know what links these victims…night terrors. A sufferer of night terrors will report seeing and feeling the presence of entities in the room with them, that's often described as malevolent or evil."

Carroway appeared then at his side. "Sleep paralysis was also called old hag syndrome as it was suggested in folklore that these were visitations of a supernatural being arriving into the person's bedroom and literally sitting on the sufferer's chest so that they couldn't move." She smiled. Smugly.

Mulder turned to face her. "Well I can't say that wasn't impressive. Good knowledge Carroway."

"Thanks." She replied smiling smugly.

Scully had never felt the impulse to slap someone so hard in her entire life. She busied her hands by pretending to rub the back of her neck. "Great, there's two of you." She simply said, annoyed.

"But if you wanted to gain entry to someone's property with the purpose of murdering them, don't you think this would be the perfect way of getting in and out without leaving a trace of ever being there." Carroway said, mainly to Mulder.

"So you're suggesting he kills them…" Scully paused, suddenly recalling the nightmares she'd been having. Zimmerman appearing in the dark. Grabbing her throat. Squeezing it until she couldn't breathe.

"In their dreams." She finished.

"Exactly." Mulder said his eyes bright and filled with possibility. The way they always looked when he'd had a breakthrough.


End file.
